Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Abang Openg dismissed Sarawak DAP chairperson Chong Chieng Jen’s motion in Parliament last week to amend the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 as nothing but “hot air.”

He suggested that the opposition was caught napping, as they did not expect him to exercise the state rights on the mining ordinance under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

“They did not expect me to do this, to return the state’s regulatory rights over its oil and gas resources,” he told reporters after officiating the Sungai Bintangor river-front bridge in Kuching today.

“I did my homework and looked through all aspects before making any announcements, unlike the opposition who simply shoot, when they are cornered, and whenever the government makes progress and implements positive changes..

“Now we can implement our rights to our resources while working together with other companies like Petronas, Shell and Murphy,” he said.

Asked about the five percent royalty, he said, he will use the state’s regulatory authority as a “bargaining chip,” and will deal with it when the time comes.

“We have got our regulatory control over our oil and gas resources. Let me deliver this first. Then we will see what happens next. I do not want to elaborate more. Deliver as promised and see what happens,” he said.

In an immediate reaction, Chong (above) told Malaysiakini that the chief minister is avoiding the “real issue.”

“We are not talking about regulatory authority, but ‘ownership’ of all our O&G resources. We may have regulatory authority to manage our O&G resources, but do we own them?” he asked.

“By virtue of the existing Territorial Sea Act 2012 and the PDA 1974, which are still valid laws, all we have got is regulatory power, not full ownership,” he said.

He reiterated that these laws are deemed as “good laws” having been already passed in Malaysia and gazetted to come into force.

According to him, the constitutionality of these laws must be either challenged in court, repealed by Parliament, or amended.

Chong added that if Sarawak already had full ownership of its oil and gas resources, it would not need to pay the five percent royalty.

“Does this not mean, you guys do the job, and we will give five percent for your effort?” he asked.

“Abang Johari is avoiding the real issue which is the ‘ownership’ of oil and gas found in Sarawak. All he talked about for the past two weeks is the regulatory power which the state government will still be sharing with Petronas and the federal government.

“Petronas still owns the oil and gas found in Sabah and Sarawak and still get 5% royalties on oil and gas extracted from Sarawak.

“This only goes to prove that Najib will never increase the oil royalty for Sarawak. As such, the Sarawak BN has no other choice except to use the so-called "regulatory power" to confuse and fool the people of Sarawak,” said Chong.