Chong claims Yong’s motion pushed government to sue Petronas

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KUCHING: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has claimed that Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong should be credited for pushing the Sarawak government to sue Petronas.

In a statement yesterday, Chong said Yong’s actions during the recent State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting put the Sarawak government on the spot.

“On this note, I would like to commend YB Violet Yong for her good effort to file the Motion in the Sarawak State Assembly to urge the state government to file the legal suit and her subsequent exposé of some of the Petros board of directors’ financial interests in Petronas contracts running to hundreds of millions,” he claimed in a press statement yesterday.

According to Chong, Yong’s two-pronged action put the Sarawak government on the spot with no excuse to delay the legal suit.

“We were very puzzled why the state government is taking such a long time to file the legal suit to recover the money,” he said.

Chong claimed such action should have been taken much earlier because the proceeds of the sales tax had been budgeted as state revenue in the Sarawak Budget 2019.

“We are now approaching the end of 2019. For the past 11 months, revenue that was budgeted to be received by the state government was not so received,” he said.

Chong said DAP Sarawak supports the Sarawak government’s filing of the legal suit against Petronas to determine its rights to impose the sales tax on petroleum products.

“The issue whether the state government has the legal right to unilaterally charge the 5 per cent Sales Tax must be determined by the court of law as soon as possible,” he said.

“For the sake of all Sarawakians, we wish every success in the legal suit.”