KUCHING: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government must commit to their pledge to give 20 per cent oil royalty to Sarawak as promised in their election manifesto.
“As everybody knows, the 20 per cent oil royalty for Sarawak is part of what they promised in their manifesto for the 14th general election in 2018. We are just asking what you promised us.
“You (PH federal government) pledged to give us 20 percent oil royalty and after winning the election, you backed out from that pledge. That means you are a liar!” commented Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He said this in response to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement on Friday who said the federal government now realised that giving 20 per cent oil royalty to Sabah and Sarawak is “really not workable”.
Dr Mahathir was at a dialogue session with fund managers at JP Morgan headquarters in New York when he revealed that fulfilling the federal government’s promise to give 20 per cent oil royalty to Sabah and Sarawak, “Petronas will no longer be an international company that it is now”.
Abdul Karim pointed out that Sarawak was only getting five per cent of the oil royalty while the other 95 per cent were taken up by Petronas and the federal government.
“To say that proceeding with the move (to give 20 per cent oil royalty) is going to affect the Petronas adversely is not right.
“Petronas has already become a global entity. So don’t tell me that if 20 per cent oil royalty is given to Sarawak, it (Petronas) cannot be called an international company anymore.
“The federal government is already imposing a 38 per cent petroleum income tax, stipulated under the Petroleum Income Tax Act (Pita) 1967.
“Apart from that, they are also receiving revenue through oil royalties.
“They can just give part of it (from the 38 per cent petroleum income tax) to Sabah and Sarawak. It’s not a big deal,” he said, adding that the Sarawakian leaders are not dumb to fall for a pitiful act.
When asked on further action from the state government to the matter, Abdul Karim said they were currently negotiating with the federal government.
He reminded that Sarawak was an equal partner in the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and not to be misunderstood as ‘joining’ the federation.
He added that there was an over-centralisation of power in the federal government’s administration and thus, devolution of powers to the state government was necessary besides returning the State’s rights which have been eroded.
“Things have changed. We cannot be static. The five per cent oil royalty cannot be static also,” he told a press conference at Kuching Waterfront here, yesterday.
Abdul Karim noted that the oil royalty was a financial obligation introduced under sales tax enshrined in the Malaysia Constitution.
“The state legislative assembly (DUN) passed a law to impose five per cent sales tax on oil and gas or related downstream activities.
“All other oil companies have paid except Petronas.
“The tax collection was supposed to start from January this year and they (Petronas) asked for a deferment until the middle of the year.
“We agreed to give you a deferment until June and now it’s already September and you are trying to turn back the whole thing.
“We have given them (Petronas) until Oct 31 to pay. The law is very clear. If you do not pay, it is an offence and we can sue you for that,” he stressed.
Describing Petronas as having ‘lidah bercabang’ (forked tongue), Abdul Karim reiterated that Petronas was just a corporation and should not (act) bigger than a state which produces the most oil in Malaysia.
In response to Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong’s statement calling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) leaders and its supporters ‘hypocrites’, Abdul Karim commented that he recently visited her at the Normah Medical Centre whom he described as a ‘nice intern’ in his ministry.
“I hope she could use much more appropriate words because the statement is directed towards me also.
“When she is an intern in the ministry, I am her boss. So calling your boss a hypocrite is not very nice,” he reminded.
