MIRI: Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) believes that the recent agreement between the Sarawak government and Petronas to bury the hatchet and move on from their legal tussle would create new opportunities beyond the industry itself.
In a statement issued yesterday, PAS Sarawak deputy commissioner Mukhtar Suhaili said, “PAS Sarawak lauds the settlement agreement and thanks Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Sarawak government … there was no solution during the previous federal government under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) but the issues have finally been resolved when Muhyiddin is the Prime Minister.
“The success marked a significant milestone for both the state and the federal governments in line with the Sarawak’s rights enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 or MA63.
“I hope it will spur and boost our oil and gas industry and give more financial benefits to the people.”
Mukhtar was confident that the latest development would help boost the state’s recovery in its energy industry.
In a statement by both parties on Friday, Petronas and Sarawak agreed to a commercial solution to create a more stable investment and business environment.
Petronas agreed to drop its appeal to the High Court on the Judicial Review application on March 13 while the Sarawak government would also drop all its claims in the civil cases against Petronas for the State Sales Tax (SST) on petroleum products.
Petronas through its subsidiaries would make a full payment on the SST imposed by the Sarawak government for the year 2019 which amounted to RM2 billion for a five per cent of the product value.
