Sarawak DAP is bandying two “magic” words that it says will ensure that the state fully owns all its oil and gas reserves.

State DAP chairperson Chong Chieng Jen said amending Section 2(1) of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 by adding just two words – “excluding Sarawak” – would ensure that newly-formed oil company Petros would have more than regulatory rights to the reserves of the state.

Currently, the PDA states: “The entire ownership in, and the exclusive rights, powers, liberties and privileges of exploring, exploiting, winning and obtaining petroleum whether on-shore or off-shore of Malaysia shall be vested in a Corporation to be incorporated under the Companies Act 1965 or under the law relating to incorporation of companies.”

According to Chong, the amendment that he is proposing may be small, but would have a huge implication for Sarawak, because it would enable the state to reclaim ownership of its petroleum and gas.

“By making this amendment, if proposed and passed in Parliament, all ownership and rights of petroleum will be vested in the Sarawak government,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

Chong also expressed hope that all 25 Sarawakian BN lawmakers would support his motion to amend the PDA in Parliament when he raises.

“If you want to defend Sarawak’s rights to its petroleum, do it in Parliament. So support my motion, it is for the benefit of Sarawak,” he added.

At the launch of Petros last week, Chief Minister Abang Johari Abang Openg proclaimed that the state oil company would assume full regulatory authority over the upstream and downstream aspects of the oil and gas industry in Sarawak.

'False hope offer' rapped

Meanwhile, Chong’s special assistant, Dr Kelvin Yii, took Deputy Chief Minister James Jemut Masing to task for claiming that Pakatan Harapan’s promise of 20 percent oil royalty was a false hope offer to the people of Sarawak.

Masing (photo) had said two days ago that Harapan’s promise was made largely redundant with the establishment of Petros, as Sarawak would now have full regulatory control over its oil and gas reserves.

“We are in full control of our resources, and if we are in full control of the resources in oil and gas, 20 percent is out of date,” he was quoted as saying by Borneo Post.

Yii said Masing’s statement showed “ignorance” of Sarawak’s legal system, and that it was intended to mislead Sarawakians.

“His argument is based on a recent statement by Chief Minister Abang Johari claiming that the Territorial Sea Act 2012 and PDA are ‘not relevant’, which is not just ambiguous but also comes with little accountability,” he said in a statement.

Unless Abang Johari was willing to challenge both laws in court or push for an amendment in Parliament, Yii said, these are still binding – meaning that Sarawak can only regulate the mining of its oil and gas resources, not exert full ownership over them.

“The constitutionality or unconstitutionality of an enactment is determined by the federal court of law, not just by mere public declarations.

“Thus TSA 2012 and PDA 1974 are still valid laws… Any attempt to deny that is a deliberate attempt to mislead the people just for personal political gain,” Yii stressed.