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KUCHING: A senior deputy minister from Sarawak has claimed that the Sabah government, led by Warisan, did not demand its oil and gas rights from Putrajaya because they were “afraid” of the then prime minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
This comes after Sabah’s Senior Deputy Minister Jeffrey Kitingan said that Sabah would try to strike a trade deal with Petronas, similar to what Sarawak had done.
In a statement, James Masing, who is one of Sarawak’s top three deputy ministers, said that they had actually approached the Sabah government under Warisan to join them in suing Petronas for the 5% sales tax on products. petroleum products.
He said the Sarawak government also wanted Warisan to stop riding in his warm skirts when he was the one fighting for the rights and interests of the two Borneo states.
“But, I was scolded by one of Warisan’s ministers, who had also called me a mischievous boy who lacked discipline.
“The reason why Warisan refused to join us was because he was afraid of Mahathir, who was the prime minister before the Pakatan Harapan government collapsed,” he said.
In January last year, the Sarawak government imposed a 5% sales tax on Petronas petroleum products under the 1998 State Sales Tax Ordinance, but the national oil company refused to pay, which led to a legal battle.
Since then, Petronas and Sarawak have reached an agreement on the matter, and the national oil company agreed to pay the tax while entering into a business agreement on the management of oil and gas resources in the state, as part of the agreement.
“Now the new Sabah government knows that its oil and gas assets are being improperly exploited by Petronas, so now they want to recoup some of their income. I wish them all the best, ”Masing said.
