KUCHING: The purported offer by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Sabah and Sarawak to acquire stakes in Petronas could yet be another ‘trick’ by the federal government.
Calling for caution against such offer, political commentator Datuk Peter Minos said the proposal by Dr Mahathir is “very strange, queer and in fact laughable”.
“Why buy something that belongs to us?” he asked.
Minos said after pumping out oil and gas from Sarawak since 1974 and making billions of ringgits, Petronas now appears to be saying, “Help me now by paying for your shares from me”.
Minos said Petronas should have been paying 20 percent royalty to Sarawak (or 30 percent like Shell is paying oil-producing Brunei following global norms).
He noted that Petronas did not even want to pay Sarawak the five percent sales tax on petroleum products and for which Sarawak is suing the company.
“If Petronas cannot pay Sarawak that 20 percent royalty and the five percent sales tax, why not let go of its Sarawak operations so that Petros can take over the job or perhaps contract it out to Shell and get 30 percent royalty,” Minos said.
He opined that there is no particular merit or benefit for Sarawak to acquire shares in Petronas, especially now that it claimed to make very little profit.
Minos noted that Sabah and Sarawak together hold more than 60 percent of Malaysia’s oil reserves.
