JOINT PRESS STATEMENT dated 9 May 20
"A group of NGOs including SAPA, S4S, and SSRANZ, has issued a joint statement strongly condemning the Sarawak GPS Government's appalling and shameless surrender of Sarawak's sovereign rights to petroleum ownership to Petronas."
They expressed deep shock and disappointment and strongly oppose what is a most unfavorable and ill-considered “deal” struck by the GPS government with Petronas on Sarawak’s inalienable petroleum rights. It is a body blow to Sarawakians’ right to self-determination.
The GPS Government Petronas Joint Press statement of 08 May 2020, has confirmed their worst fears that the Sarawak government has recklessly and illegally completely surrendered all Sarawak’s petroleum ownership rights to Petronas and the Federal government (personifying Malaya) despite its previous strenuous defence of Sarawak’s ownership rights.
According to the statement, all agreements between the Sarawak government and Petronas under the Petroleum Development Act 1974 are still valid and in force.
“Petronas is still recognised as the national oil company that acquires full authority in regulating the development of the oil and gas in the country,” it said.
This has dashed the Sarawak people's hopes that they would at least regain control of their oil and gas resources as the Sarawak claim was based on very strong legal grounds and this would have augured well for Sarawak’s development.
The "deal" was secretly done behind closed doors without consulting and obtaining approval of the DUN and most importantly it should have sought the people’s approval in the forthcoming state elections.
But clearly, the ruling GPS holds the people's interests in contempt with such a brazen act as it seems so arrogant as to believe that it will be re-elected in the polls.
This is a most shameful and arbitrary repeat of what happened in 1974 when the Petroleum Development Act (PDA74) was illegally and unconstitutionally passed to seize Sarawak and Sabah petroleum resources and then in 1976 GPS’ predecessor Chief Minister Abdul Rahman, Yakub had illegally signed the Petroleum Agreement with Malaya to surrender one of our most important heritage assets.
This new deal with Petronas was on its face designed to absolve the past illegal actions of GPS’ predecessors and compounds the crime against the Sarawak people especially when Sarawak had the strongest upper hand in legally reinstating its petroleum ownership right.
It is incomprehensible why the GPS government had so contemptuously treated and flippantly thrown away the Sarawak people’s inalienable sovereign rights.
In fact, the Kuching High Court had only recently declared that Sarawak had the right to impose the sales tax on Petronas.
Further, it also incomprehensible why Sarawak should gradually decrease the 5% sales tax rate imposed on the oil firm when all other oil companies operating in Sarawak territory have paid the tax in full without question except Petronas which squandered taxpayers’ money to challenge it.
The right to impose the sales tax rests on Sarawak’s sovereign control of its territories and resources.
These were points raised by the current Chief Minister, in the petroleum rights litigation with Petronas, the State Senior legal advisor and the Sarawak legal fraternity. This sovereign right has now been arbitrarily surrendered by GPS government without any authority from its people or their elected representatives in the DUN.
In the NGOs considered opinion, Sarawak petroleum ownership, and associated rights were never an item discussed in the making of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and in any not part of the Federal Constitution and therefore expressly a matter excluded from any federal dealing as it was a right clearly reserved to Sarawak and remain a resource owned by Sarawak.
This point is reinforced by the fact that this same issue led to Brunei refusing to sign MA63 when Malaya demanded 100% control of its petroleum ownership and exploitation. Thus it was not raised in Sabah and Sarawak’s case and not part of the MA63 deal.
The joint group of NGOs considers that the Sarawak Government was in the position to right some of the major wrongs by Malaya against the Sarawak people and has failed miserably to even stand firm on those rights but allowed Petronas to dictate terms to it.
The question is asked as to what stand-over tactics were used to make GPS submit to Petronas’ wishes?
This “deal” breaches a fundamental declared objective for “Malaysia formation” which was to develop the Borneo territories and not the Malayan states. Since 1976 Sarawak petroleum wealth has been expropriated to develop and enrich the peninsula leaving the majority of Sarawakians in poverty.
This is a wrongful act by the state government which has actually diminished Sarawak’s bargaining power and made it more dependent on the Federal government.
The people of Sarawak will forever condemn GPS for its grave misdeed against their interest and reinforce their desire for real self-determination so as to control their own destiny.
Now is the time to call for a Referendum to let all Sarawakians decide on their own future by addressing the issue of self-determination as to whether Sarawak should remain or exit the Federation.
SAPA – Sarawak Association for Peoples’ Aspirations
S4S - Sarawak for Sarawakians
SSRANZ –Sabah Sarawak Rights Australia New Zealand
DRAF Dayak Rights Action Force
SAS Solidarity Anak Sarawak
SOS Son of Sarawak
YATT Society Sarawak
MOCs – Movement for Change Sarawak
(End of Statement)
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