Lawyer: Sarawak can enforce laws for oil and gas activities

SIBU: Sarawak is right to implement regulating laws for oil and gas activities effective July 1, following the Federal Court’s dismissal of Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) application for leave to commence proceedings against the state government, said a senior lawyer.

Robert Lau Hui Yew said according to the rule of law, Petronas would have to apply for a permit from the Sarawak government to be involved in oil and gas activities from next month.

He said an Act of Parliament could not override the Sarawak Constitution and the Malaysia Agreement 1963 in the event that Petronas pursues the matter further under Parliament’s Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 to repeal the Sarawak Oil Mining Ordinance 1958.

“Any law passed by Parliament such as the PDA cannot override the rights enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement, which is an international agreement, and the Sarawak Constitution.

“This is about Sarawak’s rights over its own territories and resources,” Lau pointed out.

If Petronas wanted to pursue the matter further, it had to do it at the High Court in Sarawak and not at the Federal Court, he said.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said Sarawak would implement regulatory rights on oil and gas activities following the Federal Court’s dismissal of the application.

Abang Johari said only the state government had the rights to regulate the oil and gas activities from the point of law, as stipulated in the Federal Constitution.

He added that the ordinance would also be amended in the state legislative assembly’s next sitting.

Lau asserted that Sarawak’s rights were “inalienable” and belonged to the people of Sarawak since the day the state came into being in 1841.

“Sarawak has control and full ownership of these resources and under the territory of Sarawak, prior to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963.

“This is very clear with Sarawak as a selfgoverning state as enshrined in the Sarawak constitution,” he said.

Lau said the formation of Malaysia did not take away the state’s rights as the Malaysia Agreement and the InterGovernmental Committee Report did not confer or transfer Sarawak’s sovereignty over its territories to the Federal Government.

Hence, he said, laws passed by Parliament such as the Continental Shelf Act 1966, PDA and the Territorial Sea Act 2012 had, in fact, infringed on Sarawak’s territorial rights.

Dr Hii Sui Cheng, a former exco member of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sarawak, said as a Sarawakian, he supported the chief minister’s action to exercise the state’s regulatory rights over oil and gas activities.

“However, we need to be mindful of the current political situation to ensure a resolution that is fair to all,” he said.

Any law passed by Parliament such as the PDA cannot override the rights enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement, which is an international agreement, and the Sarawak Constitution. Robert Lau Hui Yew