KUCHING, June 9: Former Padungan assemblyman Dominique Ng calls on all Sarawakians to lodge police reports against Petronas for its attempt to claim full ownership of oil and gas in Sarawak.
Ng said such a move would let Petronas know how angry Sarawakians are about the legal suit against Sarawak.
“Sarawakians who are patriotic should do the same in all cities and towns,” Ng told DayakDaily this morning.
He said there is a case because the oil and gas in Sarawak belongs to Sarawak and not Petronas and Sarawakians should stand up to protect the resources found in the state.
“We can lodge a police report against Petronas for trying to steal one of our most precious resources, by claiming ownership of our petroleum via an unconstitutional act of PDA (Petroleum Development Act 1974),” said Ng who is a lawyer by profession.
Ng said there is grounds for Sarawakians to do so because PDA is “ultra vires” (beyond the legal power or authority of) the constitution.
“No doubt PDA was passed in Parliament but it has never been rectified in the Sarawak Assembly,” said Ng who was responding to the news there were eight Sarawakians in Miri who lodged police reports against Petronas yesterday.
Petronas filed an application before the Federal Court seeking a declaration on the PDA being the law applicable for the petroleum industry in Malaysia.
The declaration would determine Petronas as the exclusive owner of petroleum resources as well as the regulator for the upstream industry throughout Malaysia, including in Sarawak.
Petronas in a statement issued on June 4, said it believed that the determination by the Federal Court would help provide clarity on its rights and position under the PDA.
Petronas said it would remain committed to supporting Sarawak’s aspiration to participate in the oil and gas industry but it had to be within the framework of the PDA. — DayakDaily
