(From right) Abdul Karim speaking at a press conference at the ministry’s office at Bangunan Baitul Makmur (Masja), Petra Jaya here while accompanied by Assistant Minister Sebastian Ting and the ministry’s permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee.
KUCHING: The federal government should first hold discussions with the respective state governments before offering them stakes in Petroliam National Berhad (Petronas), said Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
“You don’t just offer (stakes in Petronas) unilaterally on you own because everyone knows Petronas’s main areas of extraction and mining are in the two states of Sarawak and Sabah,” said Abdul Karim today.
According to an international news agency, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reported saying that the federal government was considering selling stakes in Petronas to states in the country where the company’s oil and gas fields are located.
It was stated that such a move might give Sarawak and Sabah a say in the running of Petronas as Mahathir had previously admitted that the government could not meet a demand to raise oil royalties by the company to 20 per cent of its profit to the states in Borneo.
“It is fully owned by the government. It is up to the government to sell the shares privately, not in the market, to states like Sabah and Sarawak,” Dr Mahathir said in an interview in his office yesterday.
Abdul Karim said the state government is still in the midst of negotiations on the returning of eroded rights of Sarawak with the federal government and the latest developments from the Prime Minister’s Office might have a bearing on the ongoing negotiations.
If the negotiations are proceeding positively for both parties, Abdul Karim believes the proposal to sell the stakes to the Sarawak’s government is worth looking into but it must first be discussed with the state government.
Also, in the event that the proposal to sale stakes in Petronas to the Sarawak’s government is to proceed, Abdul Karim said the pricing of the stakes might be subject to market fluctuations.
“All these things have to be looked into before we proceed,” he said at a press conference at the ministry’s office at Bangunan Baitul Makmur (Masja), Petra Jaya here.
On related developments, Abdul Karim said the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 was enacted under emergency laws and it never received endorsement and approval from the State Legislative Assembly, with the laws lifted in 2011.
“When the (emergency laws) were repealed, the status of certain corporations or bodies incorporated under the laws is called into question but we will leave it to the courts to decide.”
He pointed out that matters related to Sarawak, be it extraction of minerals or matters involving the waters and territory of the state, must have the consent of the state government.