By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, March 13: Asajaya assemblyman Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah hailed the victory achieved by the state government for winning the court case against national oil corporation Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) this morning.
He believed that Sarawak had finally been proven right to be able to impose State Sales Tax (SST) on petroleum products exported from the state.
“It was an overwhelming decision for the state government.
“It is a good news and we won the case whereby the judicial review said that Sarawak has got the right to impose SST.
“Our hope is that Petronas will not seek further appeal.
“The decision has been brought from the Federal Court until the High Court and why don’t Petronas just pay the money as it represents a small amount to them. Then, everyone will be happy,” Abdul Karim, who was a lawyer, told a press conference after announcing some tourism events which are being postponed at his office here.
Abdul Karim opined that although the amount that Petronas needed to pay to the state government was marginal, it could help Sarawak in terms of developing the state.
In the meantime, Abdul Karim noted that although today (March 13) is Friday the 13th which normally symbolises a bad day, the state government has indeed turned the bad luck around by getting some good news.—DayakDaily
