KUCHING: The State Attorney General’s Chambers yesterday received a notice from the Federal Court Registry that the State government was being made a party in a suit by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS). The application for leave made under Article 4(4) of the Federal Constitution will be heard on June 12, 2018 in Putrajaya.
Petronas had filed an application before the Federal Court in Kuala Lumpur seeking for a declaration on the Petroleum Development Act 1974 being the law applicable for the petroleum industry in Malaysia, and that Petronas was the exclusive owner of the petroleum resources as well as the regulator for the upstream industry throughout Malaysia, including in Sarawak.
Assistant Minister for Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring, Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed said in her press statement that the State had yet to receive the motion filed by Petronas related to the application. “The State government will do everything within its powers, in accordance with the rule of law, to defend our rights in this matter,” she added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing commented that there were always two sides to a coin. “The filling means that Malaysia will have to look at the ambiguity in laws regarding the Oil & Gas ownership between Malaya and Sarawak. As a result, Sarawak will have to clear the issue once and for all. “It has also opened up an avenue for the issue to be settled in court. I believe that it is the hope for all Sarawakian lawmakers to make their stand to defend Sarawakians’ rights on this issue,” explained Masing.
In addition, President of Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian stressed that the State was the rightful owner of all land including the natural resources (Oil & Gas) found in the seabed and subsoils in Sarawak’s Continental Shelf. “Such right was established in the Sarawak (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954 made on June 24, 1954, and the same right is preserved in the Federal Constitution.
“Since the Proclamation of Emergency in 1969, our oil rights were forcibly taken away through the Petroleum Mining Act 1966, Continental Shelf Act 1966 and Petroleum Development Act 1974. “However, with the lifting of the emergency laws in 2012 and the passing of the PDA 1974 without the consent of the Sarawak State Assembly, the ownership of the Oil & Gas should be returned to Sarawak,” explained Dr Sim. He urged all Sarawakians to give their full support to the State government in defending the rights.
