Test Sarawak S Petroleum Rights In Court Dap Told

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Hilary Lim (left) of SUPP Youth said state DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen should go to court and not merely issue statements.
PETALING JAYA: Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen has been issued a challenge to take to court the fight for the state’s oil and gas rights.
Kuching SUPP Youth publicity secretary Hilary Lim said Chong should file a suit and let the court determine the constitutionality of the Petroleum Development Act 1974.
“If Chong and DAP leaders only issue statements opposing the Act, without taking legal action, it only goes to show they are misleading voters,” The Borneo Post quoted Lim as saying.
He cited a Sabah case last month when the High Court recognised the right of the activist group Sabar to challenge the Territorial Sea Act. The group also seeks a declaration that the Continental Shelf Act and the Petroleum Mining Act are unconstitutional and inapplicable to Sabah after June 19, 2012.
Lim said Sarawak faces similar issues and political parties in the state should unite and reclaim the state’s lost rights from the federal government via the courts.
“If DAP believes that challenging the Petroleum Development Act in court is a prudent move, they should take action rather than just issuing statements,” Lim said.
Last month, Chong had accused the state government of having again surrendered its petroleum rights to the federal government, after the Dewan Rakyat was told that Sarawak had acknowledged and accepted the Petroleum Development Act as the governing legislation for Malaysia’s petroleum industry.
Chong contended that the enactment of the law in 1974 was Sarawak’s first defeat over its oil and gas rights.
Another DAP leader, Pending assemblyman Violet Yong, had also accused the Gabungan Parti Sarawak government of “a blatant betrayal of the state’s oil and gas rights”.
Sarawak has contended that the state retains its right to exploit its petroleum reserves under the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 which predates the Petroleum Development Act 1974. The state also imposed state sales tax on Petronas.
However, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told the Dewan Rakyat last month that the two governments had recognised the Petroleum Development Act 1974 as a federal law, and agreed that Petronas and its subsidiaries retained all existing contractual obligations.
The following day, Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg said the state also intended to pursue its right to explore for gas in areas off its coast and in the continental shelf. - FMT

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