Chong: State govt must be accountable over conceding to validity of PDA 1976, TSA 2012

Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen is seeking for an oral reply from the Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting this month, to explain the rationale behind the state conceding on the constitutionality, validity and legality of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1976 and the Territorial Sea Act (TSA) 2012.

According to Chong, his question seeking the oral reply is ‘one that most Sarawakians are concerned about’.

He said the late former chief minister Pehin Sri Adenan Satem had, in DUN Sarawak, questioned the legality and validity of these Acts.

In this regard, he said actions had been taken by the state government to nullify these two laws, following which Sarawak would assume all rights over the oil and gas (O&G) extracted in Sarawak and those sourced from the offshore fields.

“However in December, 2020, to the surprise and disappointment of all, the state government reached a settlement with Petronas; thus, conceding to the validity of these two laws.

“Such act was a departure from the wishes and words of the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem and tantamount to a betrayal and a sell-out of Sarawak’s rights over her oil and gas.

“Therefore, the state government should be accountable to DUN Sarawak for its reason and basis in reaching the settlement with Petronas, and in conceding to the validity of the two laws,” he said in a statement yesterday evening.

Chong said for the DUN sitting which starts today, he had also submitted nine other questions seeking written replies, on April 29.

He is asking Abang Johari to state the present book value of the net assets and net asset per unit of Amanah Saham Sarawak, the reason for the depletion of the assets of the state trust fund and total government grants to it since the date of its inception; to state the racial composition of the state civil service across all respective grades; to state the status of the implementation of the Automated Rail Transit (ART) in Kuching, the estimated cost of implementation of the whole project and its estimated return on investment (ROI; and to state the total acreage of land to be acquired for the implementation of the ART in Kuching, and to provide a map showing the proposed acquisition of the affected land and the estimated costs involved.

Chong also asked the Premier to give an account of the balance sheet of the Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS) and the total deposits collected and loans disbursed since its incorporation in 2017, as well as the particulars and purposes of such disbursed loans; to state the total sales tax collected by the state government for fiscals 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 (up to April 30), and the breakdown of such taxes in terms of the items such as petroleum products, oil palm, lotteries and tyres upon which the sales tax were imposed; to state the progress of the repair works on dilapidated schools in Sarawak and the respective amount of funds used for each of the schools; the economic recovery plan for Sarawak and the respective GDPs for financial years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and also the estimated figure for 2022; and to state the ROI on the state government’s multi-billion acquisition of Bakun hydroelectric dam gained since 2017, the initial outlay, the interest costs incurred, management, maintenance and operation costs over the years and the revenue generated thus far.

“According to the DUN Standing Order, answers to questions seeking written reply will be given to the assemblyman asking the questions after the DUN sitting, while questions seeking oral reply will be arranged by the Speaker to be answered by the relevant ministers during the DUN sitting.

“Given that only the first hour of each sitting day (excluding those set aside for ministerial replies to debates) is set for oral replies; for each day, only approximately the first 15 questions will be replied by the ministers concerned, while the remaining questions for the day will lapsed and no reply will be given,” said Chong.