Shafie Apdal
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will stick to its 20 per cent royalty demand rate but will consider the acquirement of the federal government’s Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 five percent cash payment whilst the latter sorts out the payment formula for all Malaysian oil producing states.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal expressed confidence that the federal government can sort out the 20% payment but said Karanaan assemblyman Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun’s suggestion would be taken into consideration during the question and answer session at the State Assembly sitting yesterday.
“It is a good idea; we say if we do not get the 20%, ahead of it five percent. Why not? That is what we are saying when we discussed it with the authorities at the federal level. They have stated that (if) they lose in venture, they will go bust if they give 20%. No,” shared Shafie, who is also state Finance Minister.
“Since we have established Petronas and the PDA in the early 1970s, we know the capital injection is huge but in the period of those years since 1970s, it can’t be that there has been no return. I know, I used to be in the (federal) cabinet. When comes the general election, BN will get the dividend of how many millions, how many billions. I know. It can’t be that if they give us 20%, Petronas will shut down. It can’t.
“Maybe 20%, in the magnitude of our counting, we will acquire RM5 billion, RM6 billion. If it can be done but I am confident (it can). I thank Karanaan for giving his opinion to us and I will take it into account whether the matter can be realized,” he said.
Masidi had urged the state government, as an early step, to ask for a federal government commitment to give a bigger allocation of this oil revenue by asking the federal government to surrender its five percent to the state government.
“In other words, instead of the state getting five percent, make it 10% gross because the federal government can afford to surrender their five percent to the state government because they have acquired other remuneration in terms of dividend,” justified Masidi.
“Perhaps as an early step, while it (federal) thinks about what is the best formula, why not ask the federal government to surrender its five percent to the state government,” he suggested.
He further explained, as the sole owner of Petronas, the federal government is profiting from the dividend profit, and taxes from the profit.