by DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Feb 28: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan has called for greater transparency regarding the RM49 billion in cash payments made to Sarawak from the State’s oil and gas (O&G) industry.
In a press statement, Voon highlighted that earlier this month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that Sarawak had received a cash payment of RM49 billion up until December 2024 from its O&G industry.
However, he said, up until now, the Sarawak government did not prove or disclose to the public whether this sum of money had been paid to Sarawak.
“In view of the huge amount of money involved, PBK demands transparency about this matter.
“How this sum of RM49 billion been calculated had not been disclosed. The formula is not known at all, that is whether this was based of five per cent cash payment or less and how was it calculated?
“What was the value of the oil resources that was pumped by Petronas and from which period for the oil resources extracted by Petronas that caused this cash payment to be paid to Sarawak was made was not disclosed too by the prime minister,” he questioned.
He noted that under section 4 of the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA74), Sarawak and Sabah are entitled to “cash payment” in return of ownership of the oil resources that had been transferred or vested in the hands of Petronas.
He said, the sums to be paid has to be agreed between the parties because the PDA74 did not mention the exact amount Sarawak and Sabah are entitled to and how and when the cash payment could be paid.
Section 4 of the PDA74 states, “In return for the ownership and the rights, powers, liberties and privileges vested in it by virtue of this Act, the Corporation shall make to the Government of the Federation and the Government of any relevant State such cash payment as may be agreed between the parties concerned”.
“Therefore, to say that Sarawak was entitled to a five per cent royalty of oil and gas pumped by Petronas from Sarawak is doubted. Even if Sarawak was entitled to the five per cent royalty, I could not find any proof that this amount had been agreed between Sarawak government and Petronas since PDA74 was passed by parliament.
“I also could not find any proof that the Sarawak government had been paid this five per cent royalty since PDA74 was passed,” Voon said.
“Oil and gas are public property that belong to Sarawak and Sarawakians. The Sarawak GPS government, as custodian of public property for Sarawakians, has an obligation too, to disclose all these to members of the public, the formula that had been agreed for this cash payment of RM49 billion disclosed by the prime minister.
“If the Sarawak government will not come with any confirmation concerning the receipt of this RM49 billion, then is shall be deemed that this money had never been received by the Sarawak GPS government.
“What we want is proof, not mere public statement,” he added. – DayakDaily
