KUCHING: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has successfully resolved Sarawak’s claim to Petronas as per the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63) despite being in office for only a year.
“This claim is not new. Several prime ministers before Muhyiddin also promised to look into the matter but never materialised.
“Under Muhyiddin, however, he managed to resolve it within one year he was in office as the eighth prime minister,” said Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusuf.
Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and the Sarawak government finally signed the commercial settlement agreement on the issues involving the state’s sales tax and oil mining laws on Dec 7 last year.
Fadillah said Muhyiddin did not only manage to amicably resolve the protracted claim.
“Under the agreement reached with Petronas, Sarawak was also made a partner to jointly develop the gas industry in the state and Sabah,” he added.
This would then enable Sarawak to jointly contribute towards the common prosperity of the nation, he said during a press conference at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre on Monday (Mar 1).
Fadillah was present at the press conference together with three other senior ministers held after Muhyiddin’s keynote address to mark his first anniversary in office as prime minister.
The statement by the works minister was believed to have been made in reference to the successful negotiation related to sales and services tax (SST) imposed by the state government on oil and gas products last year.
