KUCHING, March 25: Sarawak People’s Aspiration (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo calls for the Sarawak government to spell out the text of the Commercial Settlement Agreement (CSA) signed with Petronas.
Soo in a press statement today said while the Sarawak government may be gloating over the oil finds and declaring that Sarawak will develop these areas through Petros (Petroleum Sarawak), this appears to be another political rhetoric as long as the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) does not come clean on the CSA.
“Has the CSA validated and legitimised the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) which should not be applicable to Sarawak. If so, GPS has sold out Sarawak people by surrendering Sarawak’s oil and gas to the federal government for a mere 5 per cent cash payment and 5 per cent tax, instead of claiming ownership and all economic rights over our valuable resources,” she said.
At the same time, Soo questioned how has the Sarawak government protected the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sarawak over Sarawak’s petroleum resources when the state are milked dry and GPS continues to let Petronas sell off Sarawak’s oil and gas right and left.
She alleges the GPS administration of selling off Sarawak rights and interests by fobbing off the people with the mysterious Petros and equally mysterious CSA.
“Whither kingmaker? This is an incompetent and abysmal kingmaker who has made a fatal error over our oil and gas resources which GPS will have to answer to the people,” she added.
Soo pointed out that Petronas has been merrily offering six water blocks (ND3A, SK4E, SK328, SK427, SK439 and SK440) in Sarawak as part of the Malaysia Bid Round 2021 which took place on 26 February, 2021.
She questioned that if the Sarawak government lay any claim to the state’s oil and gas, where is Petros’ participation in the doling out of these Production-Sharing Contracts (PSCs) handed out by Petronas?
“In the light of Block SK417 PSC located in the Baram delta 90 km off the coast of Sarawak which has now struck oil with Petronas holding 20 per cent participating interest and 80 per cent interest held by operator PTTEP HK Offshore Ltd, believed to be an American oil company registered in Thailand, this colossal economic loss to Sarawak has been going on for far too long,” she said.
Meanwhile, Soo also seeks for an affirmative answer from the Sarawak government on whether Petronas even complied with Sarawak Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 in applying for the necessary permits to explore, prospect and mine oil and gas in Sarawak.
“What happened to the Sarawak government’s claims during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration that oil and gas ownership belongs to Sarawak as PDA is unconstitutional on account of it not being passed in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN)?
“As GPS is now part of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration, the Sarawak government’s past claims on oil ownership has now been silenced and muted,” she added. – DayakDaily.
