Rci Needed On Petronas S Use Of Sarawak Profits Says Senator

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Robert Lau says Sarawak remains one of Malaysia's slowest growing economies despite over RM1 trillion in profits derived from the state's oil and gas.Senator Robert Lau said the RCI should look into Petronas’s management of profits and recommend reforms to enhance transparency, fairness, and accountability in profit-sharing with oil-producing states. (Facebook pic)PETALING JAYA: A senator has called for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate how Petronas utilised more than RM1 trillion in profits generated from Sarawak’s oil and gas resources
Robert Lau said Sarawak had sacrificed its resources for national development, but remained one of the slowest growing economies in Malaysia.
He said while the national oil company was often dubbed the “golden goose” that sustained the economy, the real goose was Sarawak while Petronas “merely collects the eggs”.
“More than RM1 trillion in profits was derived from these resources and went to the federal revenue,” he said when debating the 13th Malaysia Plan in the Dewan Negara.
“From 1970 to 1985, petroleum exports surged almost 29% annually, largely from Sarawak, helping the nation when tin and rubber prices collapsed.
“Yet, Sarawak recorded only 0.9% gross domestic product growth per annum (from 2016 to 2020),” he was quoted as saying by Dayak Daily.
He said the RCI should look into Petronas’s management of the profits and recommend reforms to enhance transparency, fairness, and accountability in profit-sharing with oil-producing states.
Lau also asked why Sarawak’s natural gas was exported while gas from Terengganu was retained for domestic industrial growth.
He said there was a clear imbalance depriving Sarawak of opportunities to industrialise, develop its local economy, build infrastructure, and uplift its people’s livelihoods.
Lau, a lawyer by profession, also criticised remarks that Sarawak’s bid for greater control of its oil and gas through Petroliam Sarawak Bhd (Petros) could undermine Petronas and harm the nation.
Lau said their remarks ignored the rights and sentiments of the Bornean states, went against the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963, and reflected an admission of hope that Petronas would rescue the country from its financial position.
Former prime ministers Muhyiddin Yassin and Dr Mahathir Mohamad, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin, and PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari were among those who said that Sarawak’s ambitions should not come at the cost of crippling Petronas.
Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg however said that the state did not intend to displace Petronas but to work alongside it.
On Aug 15, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said that negotiations between Petronas and Petros to finalise a cooperation based on a joint declaration signed in May remained ongoing. - FMT

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