KOTA KINABALU, Nov 21 -- A proposal to establish a mechanism or committee to find the best solution pertaining to Sabah's natural resources such as oil and gas will be submitted to the federal government for consideration, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
He said he had no objection in bringing up the matter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
"I feel that this is a good proposal. We can sit down and talk, among the federal and state governments and other relevant parties.
"We do not have anything to hide. We should not ignore this (proposal) because it is the wish of the people of Sabah," he said when opening the 27th Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) annual congress, here.
Muhyiddin said the decision arising out of the proposal should be sustainable and suitable for implementation now and for the long term.
He said an examination of the matter was important, particularly when the opposition was raising issues related to oil and gas in Sabah and making all kinds of promises which they might not be able to fulfill.
Muhyiddin, who is also the education minister, said that there was no objection to the teaching of the students' respective religions in school.
Other religions, besides Islam, were also important in shaping students who subscribed to them to be of good character, he said.
Earlier, PBS president Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who is a Sabah deputy chief minister, had proposed that the federal government establish a mechanism to discuss and arrive at a win-win solution pertaining to the natural resources in Sabah in the interests of the people and sustainable development of the state.
He thanked the government for allowing Bible Knowledge to be included as a subject in the school curriculum.
"Although Islam is the official religion, the (Federal) Constitution gives Malaysians the freedom to choose and subscribe to their own religion and study their respective religions," he said.
The Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister said this when asked to comment on the suggestion to have the two East Malaysian states included in the special committee to review the oil royalty paid to Terengganu and Kelantan by the federal government.
ReplyDeleteThe Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister said this when asked to comment on the suggestion to have the two East Malaysian states included in the special committee to review the oil royalty paid to Terengganu and Kelantan by the federal government.
ReplyDelete“Sabah and Sarawak should have their own panel to talk to the federal government. It is not necessary to be part of the panel for the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
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ReplyDelete“Obviously the historical setting is quite different both for Sabah and Sarawak and the peninsula states. Therefore I think it is necessary to have a separate panel for these two (East Malaysian) states,” Dompok said.
ReplyDeleteWhen asked about the opposition’s claim that the state government had in the past said that there was no necessity to ask for an increase in the royalty because it was getting huge allocation from the federal government for development but is now saying that it is open to discussion, Dompok said.
ReplyDelete“I do not know about the state government but we (UPKO) have been quite consistent in our view that there should be a re-look into the oil royalty and I think the immediate doable figure to my mind, is 10 per cent." said Dompok
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Penampang member of parliament, under the agreement with Petronas, the royalty payment is 10 per cent, split between Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.
ReplyDelete“I think for a start that one is doable… for a start we can almost have another five per cent. This is my thinking. Beyond that there will have to be some negotiation with the oil companies because there are power sharing contracts with these companies in which these terms are spelt out.
ReplyDelete“Therefore this is an area that needs to be looked into and this is where the committee comes in. That is why I said Sabah and Sarawak deserve a different committee from the one they have in Semenanjung,” Dompok stressed.
He explained that the federal government has already been indirectly paying money to Kelantan and Terengganu.
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ReplyDelete“Probably not in royalty but in essence they have been paid some money so I think it would not be wise to lump it up together with Sabah and Sarawak because Sabah and Sarawak are different,” he pointed out.