PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim hopes that Ismail Sabri Yaakob will be the first prime minister to restore Kelantan’s oil royalty rights after they were stifled during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first administration.
Speaking in a programme on Kelantan oil royalty last night, the former law minister admitted that Umno wanted to “punish” the state after Barisan Nasional lost power to PAS there in the 1990 general election.
“I hope he (Ismail) becomes the first prime minister to change what Dr Mahathir did before,” said Zaid, a former Umno minister.
“When we (Umno) lost in 1990, there were some Umno leaders at the federal level who were angry with the people of Kelantan and said ‘Let’s teach them’ (a lesson).
“How to teach them? When there was gas, we sent oil pipelines to Thailand, but we didn’t send it to Bachok, Kelantan. That shows that our intentions were not right … we wanted to punish the people for political reasons.
“That’s why I call on Umno leaders (and) members … to pay back for our mistakes. Return RM1 billion to the people of Kelantan a year, and many things can be done with that money.
“We have to admit this is our mistake, and we need to make up for it.”
Earlier this month, Zaid said he was confident that Kelantan would be paid the oil royalties if Umno were to return to power in Putrajaya, adding that he had submitted suggestions to the party’s leadership on how to develop the state’s oil and gas industry.
Describing the matter as the main issue for the people of Kelantan, he said the demand for 5% of the petroleum revenue derived from the state since 1975 involved an estimated RM20 billion.
He also said he did not understand why PAS had retracted its oil royalty suit against Putrajaya in 2019 just because the federal government was giving it RM400 million, since the state was entitled to more than that. - FMT
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