KUCHING: A Sarawak deputy chief minister has claimed the Warisan-led Sabah government did not demand their oil and gas rights from Putrajaya because they were “scared” of then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
This comes after Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Jeffrey Kitingan said Sabah would try to strike a commercial agreement with Petronas, similar to what Sarawak had done.
In a statement, James Masing, who is one of Sarawak’s three deputy chief ministers, said they had actually approached the Sabah government under Warisan to join them in suing Petronas over the 5% sales tax on petroleum products.
He said the Sarawak government also wanted Warisan to stop riding on their coat-tails when it was the one fighting for the rights and interests of the two Borneo states.
“But, I was told off by one of the Warisan ministers, who had also called me a naughty boy who lacked discipline.
“The reason why Warisan refused to join us was because it was scared of Mahathir, who was the prime minister before the Pakatan Harapan government collapsed,” he said.
In January last year, the Sarawak government imposed a 5% sales tax on Petronas’ petroleum products under the state’s Sales Tax Ordinance 1998 but the national oil company refused to pay, leading to a legal battle.
Since then, Petronas and Sarawak have come to an agreement over the matter, with the national petroleum company agreeing to pay the tax while entering into a commercial agreement on the management of oil and gas resources in the state, as part of the settlement.
“Now the new Sabah government knows that their oil and gas assets are being unduly exploited by Petronas, hence, they now want some of their revenue back. I wish them all the best,” said Masing.