Only S’wak Govt can repeal OMO
Hasidah says Petronas bound by Sarawak’s Oil Mining Ordinance, PDA 1974 does not affect its validity
KUCHING: The Oil Mining Ordinance ( OMO) 1958 is still valid and was never repealed by the introduction of Petroleum Development Act ( PDA) 1974, stressed Assistant Minister of Law, State- Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.
“The OMO is a valid law and will remain valid unless repealed by our State Legislative Assembly,” said Shari fah Hasidah in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
She stressed that only the Sarawak government can repeal the OMO because it was passed by its State Legislative Assembly.
She said national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is bound by the OMO, because the provisions under the OMO 1958 are not inconsistent with the PDA 1974.
Petronas failed in its motion seeking leave for a declaration from the Federal Court that the passing of PDA 1974 implied that the OMO was repealed.
It also filed an application for leave to commence proceedings under Article 4 (4) of the Federal Constitution, seeking a declaration that the PDA 1974 applied with regard to the regulatory control of upstream activities in Sarawak.
In a statement released recently, Petronas said that the application was declined solely based on technical grounds and that the matter falls outside the Federal Court’s jurisdiction.
“The Federal Court did not in any way determine or endorse the merits of the legal position taken by the Government of Sarawak to regulate upstream petroleum activity under its OMO 1958,” said Petronas.
Sharifah Hasidah stressed that the Sarawak government can enforce the OMO on Petronas, and asserted
The OMO is a valid law and will remain valid unless repealed by our State Legislative Assembly. Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring
that the Sarawak government can gain revenues from licences, leases or permits imposed on all players including Petronas.
“Section 3 of OMO makes it an offence for any person who is found to be exploring, prospecting or mining petroleum or natural gas upon any land in Sarawak without any lawful authority to do so under any provisions of the OMO.
“Section 4 of OMO sets out types of licences or lease that a person may apply,” she said, adding that therefore Petronas is bound by the OMO and has to comply with the provisions in carrying out any oil and gas ( O& G) exploration, prospecting and mining activities both on- and offshore Sarawak.
“Also by virtue of our Sarawak Land Code, State Land is defined to include the bed of any river, stream, lake or watercourse and also the foreshore and beds of the sea within the boundaries of Sarawak,” Sharifah Hasidah added.
This means that any person occupying Sarawak land for upstream activities is ‘required to have the authority under the Land Code’ or by a licence issued under OMO.
“The Sarawak government has decided to enforce our laws to the full extent.
“Petronas can still bring the matter to the High Court, but let us be mindful that no laws can be declared so simply as invalid. If I were Petronas, I would not do that,” she added.