By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Aug 27: Senator Robert Lau has called for the establishment of a Royal Commission to investigate how Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) spent over RM1 trillion in profits derived from Sarawak’s oil and gas, saying the State has long sacrificed its resources for national development but remains among the slowest-growing economies in Malaysia.
Debating the 13th Malaysia Plan in the Dewan Negara on Tuesday (Aug 26), Lau argued that while PETRONAS is often portrayed as the “golden goose” that sustained the nation during economic crises, “the real goose is Sarawak, while PETRONAS merely collects the eggs”.
“From 1970 to 1985, petroleum exports surged nearly 29 per cent annually, largely from Sarawak, helping the nation when tin and rubber prices collapsed. Yet today Sarawak records only 0.9 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth per annum (2016–2020).
“More than RM1 trillion in profit has been derived from this resources and went to the federal government revenue,” he said in his debate text speech.
The proposed Royal Commission, he stressed, should examine PETRONAS’ management of these profits and recommend reforms to ensure greater transparency, fairness, and accountability in profit-sharing with oil-producing states such as Sarawak and Sabah.
Lau also questioned why natural gas from Terengganu is retained for domestic industrial growth while Sarawak’s gas is exported.
He called this a clear imbalance that deprived Sarawak of opportunities to industrialise, develop its local economy, build basic infrastructure and lift its people’s livelihoods.
The Senator also criticised remarks from a former prime minister and several federal leaders who warned that Sarawak’s push for greater control over its oil and gas through State-owned Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (PETROS) could “weaken PETRONAS and hurt the nation”.
“This is very sad for two reasons. First, it ignores the rights and sentiments of Sarawakians (and also Sabah) and goes against the very spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which was to accelerate development in Borneo. Underhanded tactics were deployed to take the oil and gas wealth of the Borneo States by using the Emergency laws that were introduced to deal with a problem (racial disturbance on May 13, 1969) in Kuala Lumpur, an incident that have nothing to do with Sarawak and Sabah.
“Second, it is an admission of these senior leaders and even of all those who still hope that PETRONAS will come to rescue the dire financial position of our country. It showed that the country is not able to be productive and competitive if not for what nature endows on us,” he said.
Drawing parallels to the colonial-era Malayan economy, which was overly dependent on tin and rubber, Lau warned that Malaysia risks repeating history by shifting reliance from one natural resource to another, now with rare earths estimated to be worth close to RM1 trillion.
He cautioned against replicating the opaque governance model of PETRONAS in managing rare earths, calling instead for transparent, inclusive, and just governance that respects state rights.
Beyond natural resources, Lau also pressed for stronger emphasis on agriculture as a cornerstone of economic resilience, noting Malaysia’s declining GDP contribution from the sector, which fell to 7.4 per cent in 2020 from 8.3 per cent in 2015.
“We must plan far beyond five years, and more importantly, we must follow through with execution. Rhetoric without delivery will not improve lives,” he said, urging policymakers to prioritise food security and balanced economic growth over extractive dependence. — DayakDaily
