Sarawak vs Petronas
KUCHING: The Sarawak government has a good chance of winning against Petronas which it has taken to court due to the national corporation’s failure to pay the State Sales Tax (SST) on petroleum products. This is because Sarawak has its Oil and Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 to back its claim.
The state’s de facto law minister Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said now that a judicial review filed by Petronas against the state government on the imposition of the SST has begun, the state is leaving it to the court to decide.
“Based on the laws, we have a strong and solid case. I hope that the hearing would go smoothly and our legal team could present their arguments in the best way,” she told reporters at the court house yesterday.
When asked about those who doubted that the state government could win the case, she urged everyone to just wait for the court to make its decision.
“Indeed, people have different views. No matter, we handle this in a professional manner and we must respect that the case is now before the court.
“To say that we are not smart in dealing with this matter or we don’t know what to do, that is very childish,” she said.
Regarding those who criticised the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg on the matter, Sharifah Hasidah said some of them were just playing politics.
“Do these people really know what they were saying? Talking is easy and calling someone stupid is easy. But should they talk like that if they were smart?” she asked.
The first day of the hearing on the judicial review was carried out before Justice Azhahari Kamal Ramli at the local High Court yesterday.
The hearing started was from 10.15am until 12.50pm. It resumed at 2.30pm.
Petronas was represented by counsels Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Alvin Chong while Sarawak was represented by State Legal Counsel Datuk JC Fong and State Attorney-General Datuk Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid.
The hearing will continue today (Feb 4).
