The Sarawak GPS government should not open its doors to any collaboration with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS) in all matters concerning to the rights of the state in Sarawak’s oil and gas resources including the state’s hydrocarbon resources. To allow any door or any collaboration to these resources with PETRONAS would be seen by Sarawakians, as a derogation of the people’s trust in the GPS government.

It would also be inconsistent to the Sarawak First political ideology of the GPS government. Instead, it will be seen Sarawak First to mean as Malaya First.

You can say what belonged to Sarawak should belonged to Sarawak and “no more no less” but, if you allow any door to be opened to PETRONAS to collaborate on the rights to hydrocarbon resources of Sarawak, this will show that the Sarawak government is recognizing the validity of the Petroleum Development Act 1974(PDA74). The government is seen incapable to protecting Sarawak rights.
The claim by CEO PETRONAS Tengku Tan Sri Muhammad Taufik, that PDA74 must prevail to govern the oil and resources of Sarawak, shows that PETRONAS has no respect of the people of Sarawak when it is clear that PDA74 is a null and void law and could not have been passed by parliament in the first place and been extended to shores of Sarawak under emergency situations.

It has to be made known that expert legal opinions are that the federation of Malaysia was formed by an invalid Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and therefore, all laws passed by the Malaysian Parliament could not be valid and have any legal effect on the rights of Sarawak and Sabah.

The Sarawak government so far had not taken any steps to repeal the PDA 74 but seemed to recognize PDA74 to co-exist with the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958(OMO).

Legal experts had expressed their opinions that PDA74 could not co-exist with OMO. PDA 74 is an unconstitutional Act, but, until it is repealed it shall remain a good excuse for PETRONAS and for the federal government to claim rights over the oil and gas resources that belonged to Sarawak.

The Sarawak government needs to be mindful that Sarawak lost over one hundred billion ringgit a year from the crude oil pumped everyday by PETRONAS. In 2017 it was disclosed by CEO of PETONAS that PETRONAS pumped an average of about 850,000 barrels of crude oil in Sarawak every day.

VOON LEE SHAN
President, Parti Bumi Kenyalang.