It is time for Sarawak to set up a high level special task force for the purpose of exerting the state’s rights over its own natural resources, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report and the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63). Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari Tun Datuk Abang Openg stated this yesterday in his winding up speech during the State Legislative Assembly sitting in Kuching.
“This special task force will look at all ways and means for us to exert our rights and having a line of communication with the federal government on our rights is only one of the ways. “We shall have to put our heads together and in the words of my late predecessor, Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, what we are doing here is to reclaim our rights as enshrined in the MA63 and which have been encroached by the federal authorities,” he said.
“We welcome the development of the petroleum industry in Sarawak. We have even set up Petroleum Sarawak Berhad or Petros to develop the petroleum industry in Sarawak. “We have no intention of disrupting the normal business of the petroleum industry in Sarawak when we exert our mining rights under the Federal Constitution,” added the Chief Minister.
On the state’s rights over its offshore resources, Johari said that they were taken away by Acts of Parliament and not by the State Legislative Assembly. “The Continental Shelf Act 1966 vested the rights with respect to the exploration of the continental shelf and the exploration of its natural resources in the Federation, exercisable only by the federal government.
“The Territorial Sea Act 2012 limited Sarawak’s territorial sea limits to three nautical miles. This Act purportedly was enacted to, amongst others, comply with the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea, in which Malaysia is a signatory.
“Under this Convention, the territorial seas of the nation states are limited to twelve nautical miles. However, by unilaterally reducing the territorial sea of Sarawak to three nautical miles, the territorial sea of Sarawak is reduced by nine nautical miles.
“This affects the rights of the state to the natural resources within the territorial seas,” said the Chief Minister. Joha r i adde d tha t the Petroleum Development Act 1974 provided that all the rights to exploration and exportation of petroleum both onshore and offshore in the Federation including Sarawak were placed under the sole authority of Petronas.
“This clearly is an act to exploit the petroleum resources of Sarawak. By agreeing to compensate us in cash, an amount which we all now consider to be inadequate, the federal government has acknowledged our rights to our petroleum resources,” he said.
Johari explained that while the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA) gave Petronas the right to explore and mine for petroleum in Sarawak, the state’s right to issuing mining leases was listed as part of the rights of Sarawak in the Federal Constitution. “The power of the state to issue mining leases remains in the State List of the Federal Constitution and we must exert our mining rights.
“In exerting our right to mining, we are saying that, even if the PDA has vested the rights to exploration and export of petroleum to Petronas by the federal government, it does not mean that the Petronas has the right to simply enter into Sarawak territory, be it land or sea.
“Before Petronas can operate in Sarawak territory, Petronas must obtain the necessar y licences or leases to operate within Sarawak’s territory,” he said.
