By Nigel Edgar
KUCHING, March 4: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg today assured that Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) is nothing like the scandal-plagued 1MDB.
Petros is a state-owned company that acts as a regulatory body for the state’s oil and gas industry, he highlighted.
“There is a malicious website with an article on Petros. Petros is a regulatory body, and as I’ve said, we have transparent management. Petros is just an organisation set up by the state government to make sure that Sarawakians can participate in both upstream and downstream activities.
“There’s no such thing as something like 1MDB (in Petros). That website is malicious and it has malicious intent. We would like to mention here that the Sarawak government is an accountable and responsible government,” he said when launching Brooke Dockyard’s Demak Fabrication Yard for the Bokor Structure Loadout here this morning.
Although he did not name the website, it is believed he was referring to the website https://aogm.net/the-sarawak-oil-grab-is-petros-the-1mdb-of-sarawak/#.XHyvnqQRWaM, which published an article with the headline ‘The Sarawak Oil Grab – Is Petros the 1MDB of Sarawak?’ on Feb 21.
The gist of the article alleges that Petros, much like 1MDB, is set up under the guise of helping the state earn extra revenue stream but is actually enriching certain people.
“We are transparent. At the end of the day, we want to deliver things to Sarawakians. Like what the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem said, we should not just sit and look at people taking our oil and gas.
“We have to share the wealth. This is where we have to work together with federal agencies for the benefit of Sarawak,” Abang Johari pointed out.
He thanked Petronas for being understanding despite dragging the state government to court last year on the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) and Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) issue.
“But I’m a very patient man. We can collaborate. What is important is the interest of the country as well as the interest of Sarawak be defended. — DayakDaily
