Penang petroleum tax idea hangs on oil reserves survey

 

Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow at a Deepavali gathering at a children’s home in Perai today. (Buletin Mutiara pic)

PERAI: The Penang state government will wait for the results of a Petronas survey before seeking legal advice on the possibility of introducing a sales tax from petroleum products, says chief minister Chow Kon Yeow.

Chow said Petronas will first have to present its survey findings on whether there are hydrocarbon reserves in the waters off Perlis, Kedah and Penang.

“If there is none, all the things we have said before (in the state assembly) would be academic,” he said. If there are petroleum reserves, “we have to work on how we can get a share of it”, he told the press after attending a Deepavali celebration at a children’s home here.

He was responding to media questions on whether he has sought advice from the state legal adviser on how to introduce a sales tax on petroleum products.

Last week, Chow had said that the state government might consider emulating Sarawak in introducing a sales tax on petroleum products should oil be found in Penang waters.

Sarawak has raised RM4 billion in sales tax revenue from petroleum products since the state law was introduced.

However, former finance minister Lim Guan Eng has said that Penang could not impose a sales tax as the Federal Constitution empowers only the federal government to raise revenue.

Resettlement project for Kg Manis

In his speech at the Deepavali gathering, Chow said that the state government will arrange an agreement between the Railway Assets Corporation and the state housing board to jointly develop land in Kampung Manis to resettle squatters there.

“Hopefully with this resettlement housing project, the few hundred residents in Kampung Manis can look forward to getting better housing within the same location,” he said.

Chow, who is also the Batu Kawan MP, said that he had not forgotten about the village’s squatters after studying about them as a social science undergraduate at Universiti Sains Malaysia.

He said five developers have already submitted redevelopment proposals to the railway corporation, which owns the land.

The chief minister also spoke about his plan to provide new homes for residents of Kampung Main Road, also in Perai, once the land where the village is located is redeveloped.

He hoped the projects would be completed before the end of his term as Batu Kawan MP in about four years. - FMT