Bosi supports call to return oil and gas revenue to Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Former Kapayan assemblyman Dr Edwin Bosi has indicated his full support on the call by Senator Datuk Douglas Lind to give Sabah all its oil and gas revenue.

He said this is because the Continental Shelf Act 1966 and the Petroleum Mining Act 1966 (revised 1972), which existed during the duration of the Emergency, had been automatically nullified when the Agong’s Emergency declaration on May 15, 1969 was voided by the Dewan Rakyat on November 14, 2011 and Dewan Negara on December 20, 2011.

Bosi who is also deputy president of Parti Anak Negeri, said he also agrees with Lind that the Petroleum Development Act 1974 and the Territorial Sea Act 2012 have become invalid.

Bosi said he had raised the abovementioned issues at the Sabah Assembly and had also reminded the government that any laws enacted by the Federal government which have implications on Sabah must have the approval of the Sabah State Assembly.

“I recall a message of the then opposition party, DAP, that Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya are partners in the Federation of Malaysia,” Bosi added.

“In view of that, I again agree with Lind that Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution should be amended back to the original wordings, where the Federation States are Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu while the Borneo States are Sabah and Sarawak. This is in line with the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 196.”

According to Lind, with such amendment, the head of the Sabah Territory will be known as the “Tuan Yang DiPertua Negara” as before.

Bosi said he would like to add here that the 20 Points should be re-visited and reinstated accordingly. For example, Sabah has no official religion and this is amplified by one of the three guarantees in the Batu Sumpah (Oath Stone), that there is freedom of religion. While what is written on paper can be amended or deleted and so forth, it is not the same with the guarantees engraved on the Batu Sumpah.

Lind said Malaysia’s main institutions have begun running properly according to the rule of law after Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the government.

Bosi said he would like to remind Lind that these institutions have been running ‘well’ all this while. The public perception is that these institutions are controlled by politicians in the corridor of power. It is imperative that these institutions, such as the Police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers should continue to discharge and undertake their duties and responsibilities regardless of who is the government. If there is political interference before, it is only right and proper that this interference is removed by the new PH government.

Bosi said he supports Lind on his call to reform the MACC so that it becomes an independent body reporting to Parliament.

Having said all this, Bosi said he would like to see cases of corruption, brought up against politicians before the PH government took over, be addressed accordingly, otherwise the public will never have confidence in these institutions. It will give an idea to the people that politicians can get away from being persecuted if they are aligned with the ruling party.

He feels that it is in the best interest of those implicated to clear their names in the court of law.