KUCHING: An opposition leader in Sarawak has urged that the state legislative assembly be called to discuss the state government’s negotiations with Petronas and the federal government over Sarawak’s oil and gas rights.
Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How said all matters concerning the negotiations should be discussed at the state assembly before the next meeting with Petronas.
The state government had earlier said that a working committee led by Deputy Chief Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hasan would facilitate negotiations between Petronas and the federal government on sales tax owed to Sarawak.
The working committee would also negotiate with the federal government and Petronas on boosting the state’s participation in the oil and gas industry.
However See said the state government should be cautious about “the constitutionality, legality and validity of the negotiation and terms of agreement which may be reached”.
Sarawak must not repeat the mistakes made in 1974 with the Petroleum Development Act and subsequent documents and instruments which, he said, had deprived Sarawakians of the state’s exclusive rights over petroleum reserves.
See, who is a member of Parti Sarawak Bersatu’s presidential council, said the decision to set up of the working committee was not consistent with a decision of the state assembly.
The committee was operating outside the purview of the Sarawak consultative committee on the Malaysia Agreement 1963. he said. It would be better that its scope and terms of reference be sanctioned by the state legislative assembly.
Awang Tengah’s negotiating team members consist of Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring, Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali; state attorney–general Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid; state legal counsel J. C. Fong; State Economic Planning Unit director Muhammad Abdullah Zaidel; and Petroleum Sarawak chief executive Saau Kakok. - FMT
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