KUCHING: Claims that the state government is negotiating with national oil and gas company Petronas on the payment of State Sales Tax (SST) is fallacious and not true, said Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.
In a Facebook post today, she made the clarification that the ongoing negotiations under the Joint Committee was not about the Sales Tax.
“Petronas must pay the SST as assessed according to and under our State Sales Tax Ordinance. That’s non-negotiable as it is our constitutional right to impose SST.
“Therefore, the claims that we are negotiating on payment of SST is fallacious. Simply not true,” she stressed.
Hasidah was responding to a statement by Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How, who resigned from the Sarawak Legislative Assembly’s Consultative Committee in protest over what he saw as a negotiation that did not consult the Committee.
“With my resignation, I wish to put on record my fervent protest against any unauthorised, illegitimate and improper conduct of the Sarawak State Government which may arise from the lack of transparency in its negotiation with Petronas and the federal government for settlement of the state sales tax owed by Petronas to Sarawak, acting outside the purview of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly and the MA63 Consultative Committee,” he had said during a press conference on Tuesday.
Hasidah stated that the negotiations are purely commercial in nature.
“We are now negotiating to reclaim regulatory role in oil mining, increase share of revenues from oil and gas produced in Sarawak, greater investment opportunities in downstream activities by Sarawak Government and Petros, more opportunities for Sarawakian companies in oil and gas industry plus greater and more secured supply of gas for industrial and commercial purposes to boost our industries,” she said.
Meanwhile, when contacted by Utusan Borneo, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Corporate Affairs and Sarawak Public Communications Unit) Abdullah Saidol observed that Hasidah’s statement through her Facebook post was simply fact-sharing regarding the ongoing negotiations with the federal government.
“I do agree with Hasidah that the assumption perceived by See Chee How is absolutely misconceived.
“It is unfortunate that See chose to resign from the MA63 Consultative Committee for no valid or reasonable reason,” he said.
Abdullah pointed out that if See seriously cared about protecting Sarawak’s rights and interests, he should have remained in the Committee to ensure all relevant matters brought before the Committee will be thoroughly deliberated.
“Bearing in mind that this Committee was unanimously endorsed by the State Legislative (Assembly).
“Therefore, this Committee and the locus standi of its members, including See, are legitimate and answerable to the State Legislative Assembly. If he deems any matters relating to the process of the negotiation are not correct or vague, then he being a member of the Committee has all the legitimate right to raise his concerns and put his reservation on record.
“And if deemed appropriate and necessary, he may even raise such concerns during a DUN sitting,” he said.
Abdullah said he can only assumed that See’s resignation has nothing to do with the process or substance of the negotiation with the federal government, but due to his own political conflict.
“Perhaps he is aware that the GPS state government is on the right track and will produce favourable results for Sarawak and he is trying to avoid acknowledging such effort.
“See seems to be raising lots of concerns about protecting our rights and interests particularly with regards to oil and gas, but why make so much noise now,” he wondered.