Abdul Karim hails state government victory over Petronas in claiming SST

Abdul Karim delivering his speech during the launching of Rainforest World Music Festival 2020 recently.

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.

Earlier, during a press conference, Abdul Karim who is Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MTAC) announced that some major tourism events such as the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) 2020, the Sarawak Spartan Race 2020, Borneo International Kite Festival, Borneo Jazz Festival and over 30 business conferences scheduled to be held in Sarawak will be postponed due to the worsening situation of the Covid-19.

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