KOTA KINABALU: State-owned SMJ Energy Sdn Bhd dismissed social media claims that the state was on the losing end in its investment in the Sabah Ammonia Urea (Samur) project in Sipitang.
In a statement, the company said that through SMJ Energy, Sabah holds a 25% equity interest in PETRONAS Chemicals Fertilizer Sabah Sdn Bhd (PCFSSB), the operator of Samur, under a commercial collaboration agreement with PETRONAS.
“Since the signing of the Share Purchase Agreement in April 2023, dividends have flowed directly into state coffers that have benefited the state and the people,” the statement said.
“Suggestions that Sabah gains little from Samur are baseless and ignore the favourable commercial terms and strategic decisions that secured ownership in one of the region’s most important petrochemical assets,” SMJ Energy said Tuesday (May 26).
SMJ Energy said that SAMUR is recognised as the largest single‑train granular fertiliser facility in South-East Asia and the third‑largest in the Asia‑Pacific which was built in Sipitang and powered by Sabah gas, the project making the state a key player in the regional fertiliser and petrochemical industry.
SMJ Energy said that the development has benefited people beyond Sipitang and has attracted significant investments, created jobs in engineering, logistics, housing, hospitality and technical services.
It added that these developments represent long‑term growth increasingly felt across communities in Sipitang and beyond.
The company reiterated that the Sabah government will continue pursuing strategic investments and strengthening partnerships with PETRONAS and other industry players to ensure the state’s natural resources generate sustainable economic benefits.
Meanwhile, Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS) information chief Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan slammed the MAWAR Channel’s Facebook posts on the Samur project in Sipitang describing it as a “false, misleading and defamatory” against the state government and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Nizam said that Samur produces finished urea fertiliser in Sabah, with 25% equity held by SMJ Energy, benefiting the state through profits, dividends and jobs.
PGRS warned that they would consider legal action as the channel used the Sabah Governor’s image in political propaganda.
The channel, in its posting, claimed among others that ammonia and urea produced in Sabah were being sent to Peninsular Malaysia for processing into fertiliser and that Sabah was not benefitting directly.
