KUCHING: Sarawak and Sabah’s hopes of having their oil royalty raised from 5 per cent to 20 per cent as promised in Pakatan Harapan’s election manifesto may not materialise after all.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government now realised that giving 20 per cent to the two states would mean that Petronas would no longer become the international oil company that it was.
“So, we have to appeal the Sabah and Sarawak governments that it is really not workable,” he said at a dialogue session with fund managers at the JP Morgan headquarters in New York on Thursday.
Dr Mahathir is in New York for the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Noting that both Sarawak and Sabah were also very concerned, he said: “They don’t want to kill Petronas but at the same time they want more money, so we’re trying to work out how we can give them more money without undermining Petronas’ own strength.”
