by DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Feb 15: Sarawak legal counsel Dato Sri JC Fong says that Sarawak was never consulted on the passing of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA 1974), resulting in the State unknowingly losing its hold on its rich petroleum resources.
Fong shared that there were messages circulating that stated that Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah drafted the PDA 1974 together with his associates in secret.
This was instructed by former Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, and the act had to be completed before the 1974 Malaysian general elections.
“This is proof that Sarawakians were never consulted on the passing of such a law to deprive Sarawak of its rich petroleum resources.
“Sarawak was presented with a fait accompli and have to sign an agreement to accept five per cent cash payment for vesting all its petroleum resources in Petronas.
“Whether Parliament had the legislative competence to pass a law to vest Sarawak petroleum assets on Petronas and whether it is an expropriatory law and if yes, whether it satisfies the constitutional standards of an expropriatory law,” Fong questioned during a forum titled ‘Fifty Shades of Federalism’ in Subang today.
He emphasised that Sarawak joined Malaysia with assurances of development through special grants, revenue assignments, and royalties from resources like petroleum and minerals.
These revenues were meant to improve living standards, eradicate poverty, and transition the State to a high-income economy sustained by renewable clean energy.
However, Sarawak’s aspirations is hindered if the Federal Government fails to honour the MA63 by withholding agreed revenues and stripping the State’s rights to assets like petroleum, stalling economic and developmental growth.
“To enable Sarawak and Malaysia to prosper, we need to make full use of our oil and gas resources to develop the Nation.
“The export of 94 per cent of the gas produced in Sarawak to Japan and Korea in the form for LNG, is not sustainable utilisation of these depleting resources, and deprive of our industries and investors of the use of these gas to support their growth. industries and develop clean energy like hydrogen.
“More importantly, retaining more of our natural gas for local use, will faciliate the implementation of the Sarawak Gas Roadmap which includes the development of the sour gas fields in western Sarawak waters, development of the Kuching low carbon gas hub, development of sites for storage of CO2 and other contaminants captured from the sour gas, and realising the enormous value from the stranded sour gas assets,” Fong stressed.
“We would use these gas for power generation and transmit electricity to Semenanjung Malaysia where the gas reserves could be fully depleted by 2032.
“Sarawak wants to help Semenanjung Malaysia through a better utilisation of Sarawak’s oil and gas resources rather than to export LNG to benefit and grow industries in Japan and Korea,” he added.
He therefore urged Petronas to change its business model to work with Sarawak to build a prosperous and vibrant Malaysia.
“The spread of false narrative that Sarawak wants to do damage to Petronas will not help to strengthen nation unity and integration and definitely not helping to make Malaysia and Sarawak prosperous,” Fong said. —DayakDaily
