Group shows support for sales tax on petroleum products
KUCHING: A group of Sarawakian rights activists gathered at Padang Merdeka ( Central Padang) here yesterday to voice their support for the imposition of five per cent sales tax on petroleum products as announced by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg in his 2019 state budget speech.
According to Lina Soo, who was one of the activists who gathered at the Central Padang, the newly introduced sales tax on petroleum products has the support of the people of Sarawak as it is within the state’s constitutional right to impose sales tax on its resources found within its land and territorial waters.
“The sales tax is taxed at source upon all petroleum companies operating in Sarawak which will be collected by our Sarawak Treasury and this tax revenue will be reported at our Sarawak Budget every November. Our right to impose sales tax is written in the Malaysia Agreement and Federal Constitution,” she said.
Meanwhile, Alim Mideh, who was another activist present, also asserted that the intervention of the federal government or any oil company will not be acceptable to the people of Sarawak, saying this is the popular sentiment among Sarawakians.
Hence, the government of Sarawak must not be allowed to waver in its pursuit to strengthen Sarawak’s rights and control over Sarawak’s oil and gas, he stressed.
“Time is of the essence and we cannot afford to wait and beg from the federal government any longer as every day lost is an economic loss to the people of Sarawak. In all of 55 years, the federal government has not proven its sincerity and commitment to develop Sarawak, and it is time for the people of Sarawak to determine our future within our own hands,” he added.
Apart from voicing their support for the Chief Minister’s announcement, the group also mentioned that their presence at the Padang Central had nothing to do with supporting any political party as they are only supporting those who champion the rights of Sarawak.
The group also mentioned that they were also disappointed as they felt that they were being fooled by the Pakatan Harapan ( PH) which offered 20 per cent oil royalty to Sarawakians should they win the 14th general election (GE14).
“For us the federal government is lying to Sarawakians as they have yet to deliver what they promised Sarawakians before the election. We now think that the federal government under the leadership of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad are ‘penipu’ (cheaters),” commented Alim.
Abang Johari had announced last week that the Sarawak government had decided to impose a five per cent sales tax on petroleum products, starting Jan 1 next year.
The sales tax will be levied on petroleum products such as crude oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, chemical- based fertilisers and gas-to-liquid products.