PETALING JAYA: Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said his administration was determined to pursue oil royalties Putrajaya owed them, hours after the state assembly rejected a law on exploration of natural resources.
Samsuri said the Terengganu government would explore all avenues to negotiate with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on the matter.
When asked if he intended to meet Anwar at the Madani Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house in Kuala Terengganu on May 9, Samsuri said: “God willing.”
“We are optimistic and we will try various methods, including making full use of Anwar’s visit (next month).
“The game isn’t over yet,” he said at a press conference after receiving a memorandum from Sekretariat Gerakan Menuntut Royalti Terengganu, an NGO that is calling on the federal government to return the royalties to the state.
In a statement earlier today, the Terengganu assembly unanimously passed a motion to reject the Territorial Sea Act 2012 (Act 750) on grounds it denied the state’s right to explore resources and revenue within its maritime borders.
Samsuri said the state government rejected the law as it did not comply with the conditions set out in Article 2 (b) and Article 38 (4) of the Federal Constitution.
He said Article 2 (b) stipulated that laws altering the boundaries of a state cannot be passed without the consent of that state and the Conference of Rulers.
In February, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said told the Dewan Rakyat that Kelantan and Terengganu do not qualify for the 5% petroleum revenue payments as the related law stipulated that states can only claim rights up to three nautical miles.
In the following month, Samsuri urged Anwar to explain the arrears in oil royalty payment to Terengganu for 2023.
Previously, Samsuri told the Terengganu assembly that the state government had yet to receive about RM1 billion in oil royalties for 2023 from Putrajaya. - FMT
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