Sarawak lays claim to carbon capture rights

 

Abang Johari Openg at a party convention in Kuching today. He urged PBB members to defend Sarawak’s rights over carbon capture. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Sarawak state government has set claim to the state’s rights over carbon capture and storage, with the premier, Abang Johari Openg saying the federal government had no authority over the matter.

“The federal government can only authorise regulated carbon trading under international protocols,” Abang Johari said today, according to the Borneo Post.

“The right to capture and store carbon in the state belongs to Sarawak,” he said at the opening of a party convention in Kuching.

Abang Johari, who is president of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, urged PBB members to defend the state’s rights.

The premier said carbon had been gazetted under the Sarawak Land Code and under the Federal Constitution, “anything to do with land is the right of the state”, he was quoted as saying. “No question,” he said.

“Carbon trading is ours, and it is not a shared right as what has been claimed,” he said.

He questioned a federal government proposal to build only one carbon capture and storage hub in Sarawak, with two others in Peninsular Malaysia.

“It cannot be like this. We have identified three locations (in Sarawak) for carbon storage. And we have one billion tonnes of space for carbon storage,” he said. - FMT