Thursday, August 9, 2012

Sarawak & Sabah Want Their Petroleum Resources & Independence Back

See also: "How Does Petronas Think Sarawak, Sabah & Kelantan Feel?"

[Comments below on the above Reuters report were made on Radio Plenty Valley FM 88.6 27/07/12]

The news comment mentioned that Petronas has developed into a multi-billion global enterprise. This is thanks to over 35 years of exploiting oil belonging to the resource rich East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on Northern Borneo Island.

The news comment also mentioned that last year Petronas contributed to half of the national budget being $60 billion. The rest must be pure profits in Petronas' bank account.

Petronas was created when the Petroleum Development Act was passed in 1974 seizing control of Sabah and Sarawak oilfields. This was made possible when resistant Chief Ministers of Sabah and Sarawak were removed by the Kuala Lumpur government and replaced with chief ministers who willingly signed away their state oil rights to Petronas control. This happened eleven years after the British colonial government transferred control of Sabah and Sarawak to the Malayan government under the Malaysia Plan in 1963.

Listeners can imagine how important Sabah and Sarawak are as parts of Malaysia for their giant contributions to the national wealth which largely goes across the China sea to develop the West Malaysian States. They essentially prop up the whole Malaysian economy.

However, despite their economic importance, in the last 49 years of “independence in Malaysia”, these 2 sparsely populated states have remained the most underdeveloped and under funded states.

In fact the rampant exploitation of the 2 states' resources has reduced Sabah to be the poorest state in Malaysia with Sarawak coming second.

The “gleaming icons” the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur are now being called the Sabah and Sarawak Towers as they were built with Sabah and Sarawak oil money. So was Putra Jaya the new administrative centre, other gleaming palaces and public buildings and much of the infrastructures of West Malaysia that have all been funded by Sabah and Sarawak money.

A recent news comment found on the Internet described Malaysia as a “ponzi scheme”. The Kuala Lumpur government takes 100% of Sabah and Sarawak oil revenues and taxes and gives them back a miserly 5% royalty. This is especially shocking when the two states originally owned the oil.

It is no wonder that the people in both states have come to see that they have been re-colonised in Malaysia.

A Sarawakian Dr. John B Anthony who publishes an Internet blog page called “Dayakbaru” in an article entitled: “Sarawak-may-leave-Malaysia-sooner-than-expected” said: (Quote)

"In Sarawak, the spirit of anti-Malaya due to its colonizing approach is rising. Sarawak today is being colonized in all aspects, education, commerce, religion, politics, social structure and even government through the BN party.”

Malaya took the wealth of Sarawak and gave back “crumbs” as development funds. Malaya took all the important Ministries, took all the important posts in the civil service...”

The Sabah State Reform Party deputy leader Daniel Jambun wrote in his list of 22 "failed" items by the Kuala Lumpur government (Quote):

"16. Among the biggest source of our dissatisfaction is in how our natural resources are being taken from us. Imagine if the oil royalty for Sabah and Sarawak is reviewed to 70 percent backdated to 1976 and with 8 per cent interest for arrears compounded yearly! That amount would be so much it would take care of all of Sabah’s development needs for decades to come”.

He said.”. This kind of oil royalty rate is nothing fantastic because it is already practised by other countries such as Timor Leste, South Sudan, Darfur, Acheh, and under the nationalist movement in Scotland."

Both these writers have increasingly taken a very strong stand on Sabah and Sarawak re-examining their positions as States of Malaysia.

Posted by ANAKSARAWAK to Sarawak Headhunter at August 8, 2012 10:12 PM