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KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah activist says Sarawak’s agreement with Petronas on the oil sales tax is not an advance in terms of obtaining state rights.
Activist of the 1963 Malaysian Agreement (MA63), Zainnal Ajamain, said that all civil lawsuits filed by the state government have ended with nothing.
Instead, the Sarawak government continues to recognize the Oil Development Act of 1974, the validity of which is questioned from a constitutional point of view, he said.
Zainnal said resolution of the dispute also allowed Petronas to continue to dominate Sarawak’s oil and gas resources.
He compared state action as history repeating itself again when former Sarawak leaders had signed their state rights into the Oil Development Act (PDA1974) in 1975.
“Then Petronas or Putrajaya will remind the Sabah government that the Sarawak government has agreed and therefore must also agree.
“But as the Malay saying” pisang tidak akan berbuah dua kali “says, Sabah is likely to decide not to adhere to the 1974 PDA twice,” he said here today.
The Sarawak and Petronas government yesterday announced their decision to resolve their dispute over the management of oil and gas assets in the state.
Under the agreement, Petronas will pay RM2 billion in settlement for the Sarawak state sales tax for 2019 and the state has agreed that all future payments on the state oil sales tax will be lower and staggered, according to future negotiations. .
Sarawak will also withdraw all claims in its civil case against Petronas and the state will have to comply with all agreements in the 1974 PDA.
Sarawak was also told to recognize Petronas as the nation’s oil company with the authority to regulate the development of the entire oil and gas industry in the nation, in accordance with the Federal Constitution.
This deal comes immediately after Sabah begins to impose the same tax on all oil and gas companies operating in the state.
Zainnal said that both Sabah and Sarawak had fought extremely hard to have these assets returned to the state from Petronas and Putrajaya.
He argued that the 1974 PDA was invalid and went against the Federal Constitution, citing Article 112 C 4 (b) that Parliament cannot pass laws that could deny that Sabah and Sarawak receive royalties.
He said the actions of Sarawak’s leaders compromised the struggles of the people in Sabah and Sarawak, allowing Putrajaya and Petronas to regain their rights.
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