Sabah assemblyman to Dr M: Oil royalty issue similar to water issue with S'pore

KOTA KINABALU: Kemabong assemblyman Jamawi Jaafar (pic) is calling on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to honour the rights of Sabahans as stated in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), especially in relation to oil royalty.

The Parti Warisan Sabah member said the issue of MA63, especially on matters concerning oil royalty, was something the people of Sabah had been waiting for the federal government to address for a long time.

“The federal government has been giving Sabah only 5% of oil royalty since 1976,” he said in a statement here on Tuesday (March 5).

However, the MA63 stated that Sabah, which is an oil producing state, was entitled to 20% of oil royalty, he added.

Jamawi likened the situation to Dr Mahathir’s dissatisfaction over the low price of raw water sold to Singapore at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons, over which the Prime Minister had been voicing his displeasure since he took over the government following GE14.

“Dr Mahathir recently said that the 3 sen price implemented since 1962 was irrational, and had asked for both countries to relook the matter, and if needed, to bring it to the international court,” he said.

He said the Dr Mahathir should understand how Sabahans felt, as the situation was similar to how he felt about the water price issue.

“The 5% oil royalty received by Sabah is also not right and cannot be maintained anymore, due to the high cost of living,” he said.

Jamawi said Sabah was backwards in many aspects, and it wasw time for the state to get back what was due to it for the betterment of the state and people.

“We hope the Prime Minister will look at this scenario and understand our feelings and plight, and give us what is due according to the MA63,” he said.