Sarawak鈥檚 oil, Sarawak鈥檚 soil, so let us decide, says Nancy
Sarawakians should be the ones dictating how much oil royalty it will get as the oil is in their soil, said Sarawak MP Nancy Shukri.
Nancy, who is Batang Sadong MP, said a lot of Sarawakians were of the view that the state had been enriching West Malaysians and as a result the state had become backward and has not been getting much.
鈥淪arawakians have been talking. They say, 鈥榳e see the Petronas Twin Towers, but look at us. Where are we?鈥
鈥淭hat is why Sarawakians are now very aggressive and protective about their reserves. We explain why the Malaysia Agreement 1963 is still important because Sabah and Sarawak are still very backward in terms of development.
鈥淲e should not be backward any more. We should be getting a lot more because we need that money to develop the state,鈥 she said at a forum 鈥淎 New Malaysia: The Way Ahead鈥 held at 糖心原创 here today.
Also present were Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil and Umno Supreme Council member Zambry Abdul Kadir.
The Pakatan Harapan government had previously agreed to a 20% oil royalty for Sarawak.
鈥淚t (the oil) is in our soil. We should be the ones to dictate how much oil royalty we should be getting.鈥
The former minister in the Prime Minister鈥檚 Department said before the 14th general election, a committee set up to look into the issue was already moving into the second phase, where they were discussing with Petronas to determine the quantum of royalty.
Fahmi later told the floor that if something had been agreed upon and signed, it must be honoured.
鈥淚n principle, for me as a lawmaker, if something is signed, it must be honoured.
鈥淚 would like to see the agreement fulfilled. If not, what good is our word?鈥 he added.
The forum was moderated by Professor James Chin, who is director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania.
厂辞耻谤肠别:听
This article first appeared in聽the聽Free Malaysia Today聽on聽August 29, 2018
