Sarawak legal minds offer services to govt in Petronas suit

 June 6, 2018, Wednesday

Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali

KUCHING: Sarawakian lawyers have offered to help the government in the suit filed by national petroleum corporation Petronas in the Federal Court.

Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali told The Borneo Post that ‘so many’ local legal minds have offered their assistance, adding that a special meeting has been arranged to discuss the matter.

“This coming Thursday (tomorrow), the chief minister will be meeting Sarawak lawyers to brief them on what is going on because so many lawyers are expressing their interest to come (and) help us,” she said when contacted after chairing a meeting with the Sarawak Attorney General’s Chamber.

Sharifah Hasidah assured all that the Sarawak legal team ‘is very prepared, and will be going all the way’ to defend what constitutionally belongs to Sarawakians.

On the meeting, she said it was to discuss the case and on the next course of action following the hearing of Petronas’ application for leave at the Federal Court on June 12.

“We wait for the hearing on the application of leave by Petronas on June 12 (before deciding). If the court says Petronas has a case, we go ahead.

“If the court says Petronas has no case, we also want to bring (the matter) to court. We want to bring it all the way.”

Petronas on Monday issued a statement saying that it is seeking a declaration from the apex court that the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 is the law applicable for the nation’s petroleum industry.

It is seeking to clarify that under the law, it is the exclusive owner of petroleum resources in the country as well as the regulator for upstream activities nationwide, including in Sarawak.

“The court filing is done to seek and clarify Petronas’ role as the custodian of the nation’s oil and gas resources and not an act of suing the Sarawak government,” said Petronas in the statement.

“We remain committed to supporting Sarawak’s aspiration to participate in the oil and gas industry in the state, for as long as it is within the framework of the PDA.”

The application names the Sarawak government as the respondent.

The legal battle took shape in April this year when Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg announced that companies operating in the upstream oil and gas sector in Sarawak must obtain the necessary licences and leases from the government, beginning July 1.

The Sarawak government had officially notified Petronas that it must get the necessary licences in order to develop the oil and gas industry within Sarawak’s territory.

In March, Abang Johari had declared that the PDA 1974 and the Territorial Sea Act 2012 were ‘null and void’ and not relevant to Sarawak, as both federal laws needed to be endorsed by the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) before they could be implemented in Sarawak.

“Now, quote me properly – any law that is ultra vires the constitution under Article 4 of the Federal Constitution is void,” Abang Johari was quoted as saying during a press conference.

He said since the DUN had not endorsed both laws, they could not be implemented and could not supersede Sarawak laws.