Mystery Of Sarawak's 'Mission To London' - Gesture

Politics?
Sarawak Report
Sarawak Report |

Valuable documents on site

A top delegation of Sarawak officials and politicians was due to arrive in Kew,
South West London, today in order to scrutinise tens of thousands of documents
in the National Archives relating to the Malaysia Agreement of 1963.

The group of at least six people includes assistant minister Sharifah Hasidah
Sayeed Aman Ghazali and Governor Taibs legal fixer over decades, the wily
former State Secretary JC Fong. They are scheduled to remain in London for a
week, but have only one known appointment, which is at the National Archives.

How this gaggle of bigwigs expects to achieve anything useful in the way of
research over a planned few hours in the reading room at the National Archives
has not, however, been explained. Any comprehensive analysis of these papers
ought to require days of patient academic scrutiny (as the writer of this blog can
testify, having already viewed many of the files).

Furthermore, the specific target and purpose has not been announced what
exactly are these luminaries looking for amongst these thousands of letters and
papers documenting the background to the published agreement?

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Archivists Alerted!
So mysterious is this mission that Sarawak Report has taken care to alert the
archive through its press team that a beady eye needs to be kept on the Sarawak
delegation at all times by staff.

The truth of the matter is that the powers that be in Sarawak, whom these people
represent, have no interest in raking up the past. They have controlled the place
for decades, ever since the 1966 state of emergency that conveniently deposed
the elected state government of Steven Ningan and paved the way for a KL-
managed client regime that has controlled Sarawak ever since.

As everybody knows, that regime has been firmly in the hands of a minority
clique dominated by the family of the present Governor, Taib Mahmud and
before him his uncle.

The West Malaysian Government has got what it wanted from this arrangement,
which was Sarawaks oil (and safe parliamentary seats) whilst the Mahmuds set
about making themselves one of the worlds richest families out of the rest of
Sarawaks resources, particularly its timber and land banks, turfing out the
established rights of the indigenous peoples in the process.

Since these are the people who are still in power in Sarawak why would they
want to rake up information pointing to the agreed rights of East Malaysians
which were pledged by all sides to that initial treaty, but have subsequently been
ignored?

It would in fact be in the interests of the present Sarawak Government to see as

many as possible of those documents destroyed, which is why Sarawak Report
(perhaps a little tongue in cheek) alerted the staff of the National Archives to
watch them carefully if they are handling original papers and documents.

Gesture Politics?
Open and transparent the paperwork is available to view in the UK archives

If the new Sarawak Chief Minister had been genuinely interested in researching
the legal rights of the state dating to this original agreement, then he would surely
have sent a small low-key team of legal researchers to spend some days at Kew
and elsewhere.

The most likely reason for this odd trip on the part of grand emissaries is
therefore window dressing, according to opposition commentators at least.
Awareness of decades of exploitation is now widespread in Sarawak, where
people can see that the natural wealth of their homeland has been sucked out
from under their feet, thanks to those entrusted to govern in their interests.

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Taib signed away the oil in 1974, negotiating only a 5% royalty to be spent on the
state.

The status of the North Borneo states was also down-graded in violation of that
agreement by the a constitutional amendment in 1976, according to the historian
on this issue, Zainnal Ajamain.

However, it is Taibs much more recent deal with Najib in 2012 which has caused
just as much anger and concern the Territorial Sea Act (TSA). Opposition
Assembly Member and local lawyer See Che How says that act was
unconstitutional and has radically prejudiced the rights of the state:

It is in breach of the constitutional provisions. There was no prior passing of the

same ordinance in the Sarawak State Assembly and there was no consent of the
Rulers Conference to approve the provision that affects the territorial sovereignty
of states.

The main point in the TSA 2012 was to limit Sarawaks control of the territory to 3
nautical miles from its shore (while Sarawaks control, from the colonial orders, is
actually the extent of the continental shelf). With that, of course, it determines the
control of Sarawak (or federal) of the oil and gas deposits and all other
resources, marine fishery or other minerals.

We have to resolve this issue of territorial integrity and sovereignty, to determine

our power and jurisdiction on the oil and gas fields onshore and particularly off
shore fields. Related to it (lifting of the emergency orders in November 2011,
reverting the positions back to pre-1969 Emergency Orders) are the
constitutionality and validity of the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (federal Act)
and the tripatite petroleum development agreement between the state, federal
government and Petronas.

The previous Chief Minister Adenan Satem had courted considerable popularity
by championing these issues, in particular by adopting the opposition demand
that Sarawak should be entitled to at least 20% of its own oil revenues.

Adenan embarked on two rounds of negotiations with KL on the matter and

passed a ministerial motion in December 2015 questioning the validity of the
TSA. It helped Adenan win the state election and autonomy rights continue to be
high in the Sarawakian consciousness, after years of being treated as third class
citizens in their own lands.

However, Najib did not give way to Adenans requests on any front and since he
died and Najibs favoured local man, Abang Johari, finally got the top job there
has been a deafening silence on such matters as Sarawak State rights.

All the negotiations have been in abeyance. But, now that the federal electio is
looming Johari wants to demonstrate he is doing something as a sop to the

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Sarawak For Sarawakians movement, which has inspired so many people. That
is what this showcase visit is all about. But, this business of going back to the
drawing board by researching the documents behind the agreement at Kew is a
clear time waster and just undoes all the progress made previously

one opposition leader has explained to Sarawak Report, stating that the whole
trip appears to be a cynical exercise in attempting to show that Najibs new man
in Kuching is doing something about his peoples rights, whilst setting the entire
matter back to square one in terms of progress.

Its an analysis that makes sense, given that for BN leaders in Sarawak there is
zero advantage to returning the rights and resources that were taken away from
the people of the state because they are the ones who have been enjoying
their cut of the proceeds ever since.

Copyright (c) Sarawak Report

London mission team finds documents on Sarawak in

Migrated Archives
tvsarawak.com |

PETALING JAYA: The Sarawak research mission team to London has obtained
documents on the Continental Shelf, which confirm the ownership rights of the
state to the natural resources on the seabed and in the subsoil of the continental
shelf within the boundaries of Sarawak.

Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg had on July 1 announced that the state would
send a team of lawyers to London to search for any study and reference related
to the states rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring

Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali, the research mission team leader, said
these were among the items that the team had come across during a thorough
study of the documents originating from Sarawak before Sept 16, 1963, but
classified by the colonial administration as secret or confidential.

She said the documents were from the Migrated Archives documents that
have been declassified by the UK government and stored in the British National
Archives, reported the Borneo Post.

Sharifah Hasidah said this after her team had briefed Abang Johari on their
findings in Kuching on Aug 9.

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The chief minister had said the research mission to London was a continuation of
former chief minister Adenan Satems efforts to retrieve the states rights as
embodied under MA63.

This agreement is not simply an agreement we want to get the facts right
because if we want to make a claim, we must do our homework; otherwise, we
are just shooting at the target without hitting it, Abang Johari was quoted as
saying then.

Sharifah Hasidah said the research team had also obtained the British
governments cabinet papers relating to the Cobbold Commissions Report and
its views on granting Sarawaks independence on the formation of the new
Federation of Malaysia.

She said the team also found documents on the formation of Malaysia, including
the minutes of meetings of the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC), leading to
the publication of the IGC Report.

The state government is studying these documents to ascertain the basis for the
recommendations contained in the IGC Report of the constitutional safeguards
for Sarawak and what further actions that need to be taken in order to have them
fully implemented under Article VIII of the Malaysia Agreement if they had not
been already incorporated in the Federal Constitution or by executive, legislative
or other action since Sept 16, 1963, the Borneo Post quoted Sharifah Hasidah
as saying.

She said the documents found by the team would add strength to the states
position in the discussions with the federal government on devolution of power,
and towards the resolution of various constitutional matters under deliberation in
these talks. FMT News

Copyright 2014-2015 TVSARAWAK

When Continental Shelf Act was extended to Sabah

Published on: Sunday, May 09, 2010

THE Daily Express on 6.04.10 had a report concerning the payment of royalty to
the State Government of Sabah.

I feel in my capacity as the former State Secretary to the Sabah Government, I

should give my views and comments on the matter.

I remember very well, during my tenure of office as State Secretary sometime in

1969, the Federal Minister of Finance, the late Tun Tan Siew Sin sent a copy of a

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Gazette Notification inviting Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun to agree to accept
the extension of the Continental Shelf Act 83 to the State of Sabah and Sarawak.

This Gazette Notification was received by me during the absence of Mustapha

while he was overseas.

The Gazette Notication requested the Sabah State Government to agree to the
extension of the Continental Shelf Act 1966 (revised 1972) Act 83 to the State of
Sabah.

In the absence of Mustapha, I acknowledged receipt of this document, pending

the Tun's return to Sabah.

With the extension of the Continental Shelf Act 1966 it empowered the Federal
Government to exercise rights with respect to the exploration of the Continental
Shelf Act of the exploitation of its natural resources; no one or no other country
may exercise such rights except with the express consent of Malaysia.

The rights with respect to the exploration of the Continental Shelf Act, 1966
(Revised 1972), Act 83 and the exploration of its natural resources have been
vested in Malaysia and shall be exercisable by the Federal Government with the
extension of the said Act.

The State Government surrendered its right to the 200-mile limit to the Federal
Government whilst the State Government of Sabah is entitled to explore the 5-
mile limit from its shores.

The oil revenue from the 200-mile limit goes to the Federal Government, whilst
revenue from the 5-mile limit would go to the State Government.

With the extension of the Continental Shelf Act 1966 (revised 1972) Act 83, the
Federal Government agreed to pay to the State Government of Sabah 5pc of oil
royalty.

I cannot remember seeing any written Agreement between the Federal

Government and the State Government of Sabah, relating to the payment of the
5pc oil royalty.

Only after many years had passed, Tun Mustapha realised the payment of the
5pc oil royalty to Sabah was far too low. He decided to write to the Federal
Government appealing for the increase of the 5pc oil royalty.

Tun Mustapha showed me the letter he wrote to the Prime Minister Tun Abdul
Razak requesting consideration of an increase in the oil royalty to be paid to
Sabah. The requested increase was between 20pc and 30pc.

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As far as I was aware there appears to have been no response from the Federal
Government.

However, the extension of the Continental Shelf Act 1966 (revised 1979) should
have come much earlier as the delay caused some anxieties over Mustapha's
unwillingness to accept the Federal Government's request for the extension of
the Continental Shelf Act 1966 (revised 1972) to Sabah.

As Siew Sin was not on speaking terms with Mustapha, he enlisted the help of
Tun Razak, the Prime Minister, over the extension of the Continental Shelf Act.

The Prime Minister called Mustapha in London, asking him to call on him on his
return to Malaysia at the earliest possible opportunity to discuss the extension of
the said Act.

On Mustapha's return to Malaysia he called on Tun Razak in KL and the matter

was discussed over dinner at Tun Razak's residence.

They held a cordial meeting and Mustapha gave his assurance that he would see
that the extension of the Continental Shelf Act 1966 (revised 1972) Act 83 would
proceed as agreed.

Later, Siew Sin sent the required Gazette Notification to Mustapha relating to the
extension of the said Act and I recollect having sent the Gazette to the
Government Printer for gazetting upon the instructions of Mustapha.

I was not in the picture over the signing of the Agreement over the payment of
the 5pc oil royalty to Sabah.

However, the suggestion of Datuk Raymond Tan, the State Industrial

Development Minister in Daily Express dated 19th April 2010, i.e. that Sabah
should press for a wider access to its natural gas reserves to boost economic
development rather than getting stuck in the stale idea of demanding for higher
quantum of oil royalty payment from the Federal Government, would appear to
me to step in the right direction.

Tan's Ministry should work out a suitable mechanism how to secure more supply
of natural gas to enable the State Government to accommodate many energy
extensive industries wishing to invest in Sabah.

We should not lose sight of the huge funds allocated to Sabah under the various
infrastructural developments - running into billions of ringgit.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, in a statement during the recent
Legislative Assembly sitting pointed out it is not his intention to ask for an
increase in oil royalties.

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I believe the underlying premise of that statement to be diplomatic in nature.

It is essential the State Government maintains a genial relationship with Federal

authorities in order to maintain the momentum of Federal-funded initiatives within
our State.

How the 13 May race riots affected Sabah

and Sarawak
BY SEEDS JANUARY 8, 2016

By Danielle Sendou Ringgit

danielleringgit@theborneopost.com
@danitbpseeds

When riots broke out on May 13, 1969 in Kuala Lumpur, a state of
emergency or Darurat was declared by then Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah. While the casualties remain under dispute,
it is still considered one of the darkest periods in Malaysias history today.

Zainnal Ajamain

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Although Sabah and Sarawak had nothing to do with the racial riots, the impact
of the state of emergency affected us in terms of loss in territory and natural
resources.

On December 9-10 last year, Zainnal Ajamain, author of The Queens

Obligation and political analyst was in Kuching for a two-day talk on the
Safeguards in the IGC and MA63 (How to safeguard our rights when dealing
with the Malayans) and How the Borneo States lost their wealth (.and how we
got back our territorial waters) respectively at Saati Hall, SUPPs headquarters.

In the beginning

In the beginning, what Malayas interest in us was not so much to balance the
population between Singapore and Malaya as for them to bring in the Borneo
states into the equation, said Zainnal referring to the formation of Malaysia
between the Federation of Malaya, Singapore and the two Borneo states.

According to Zainnal, a former lecturer in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Menggatal campus, during that time Tunku Abdul Rahman was unaware there
were so many ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak who were not Malay.

Tunku said (in 1958) Their people are within our group. They have the same
characteristics as we, the same way of living and the same currency. It would be
a matter well worth considering if they approached us.

At that time, Tunku was looking at us to approach them. It would be good

financially, they have oil, said Zainnal.

A state matter

In 1954, under the Alteration of Boundaries Order in Council approved by the

Queen, Zainnal said that the extent of our territorial waters actually included the
continental shelf.

Geologically, the continental shelf is an underwater land mass which extends out
from the continent. Economically speaking, however, the continental shelf can
offer up a wealth of natural resources for metallic-ore, non-metallic ore, and
hydrocarbon extraction, or simply put, crude oil.

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The North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954 says that
The boundaries of the North of Borneo are hereby extended to include the area
of the continental shelf being the seabed and its subsoil which lies beneath the
high seas contiguous to the territorial waters of North Borneo. Sarawak is
basically the same thing, said Zainnal.

He added that this was further supported by the respective Sabah and Sarawak
Land Ordinances with Sabah has its Land Ordinance Cap 68 and Sarawak Land
Ordinance 81.

The borders of Sabah and Sarawaks territorial waters.

In 1954, according to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the

Sea), an international agreement, Sabah and Sarawak territorial waters extended
350 miles.

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Sabah and Sarawak were also given protection in the Malaysian Constitution, as
ensured by the British through the Inter -Governmental Committee Report and
Malaysia Agreement 1963.

In addition to that, land was a state matter and both Sabah and Sarawak had
their own state land ordinances which Zainnal said the federal government could
not simply ignore.

How did we lose it?

All of these safeguards over territory were suspended on May 13, 1969, when
the race riots that broke out in major towns in Peninsular Malaysia led to the
declaration of a state of emergency on May 15 a couple of days later, which saw
Parliament getting suspended and the state of emergency was implemented
nationwide.

So Parliament only reconvened on February 20th 1971, and between May 13th
1969 and February 20th 1971, many ordinances and gazettes were issued, he
added.

These ordinance and gazettes were used in the taking of Borneo state wealth
even when it had nothing to do with the racial riot in Kuala Lumpur.

Sabah and Sarawak were peaceful, the problem was in Kuala Lumpur, and yet
they issued the proclamation which covered the whole Sabah and Sarawak as
well, said Zainnal.

He then added that the law used to take the Borneo state wealth included the
Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No.7 1969, the Continental Shelf Act
1966, and the Petroleum Mining Act 1966.

Under normal circumstances, land in Sabah and Sarawak would have been well
protected in accordance to the Safeguards and Caveats provided for in the
Malaysian Constitution, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Inter-Governmental
Reports, said Zainnal.

But when normal circumstances turned into abnormal circumstances that was
when Sabah and Sarawak rights can be taken with impunity. Abnormal

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circumstances occurred when the Yang di-Pertuan Agong declared a state of
emergency nationwide as per Article 150 in the Malaysian Constitution, said
Zainnal, referring to the racial riots in 1969.

It was the only time Sabah and Sarawak had no protection from the constitution
while the Malaysian Agreement 1963 and the Inter-Governmental Committee
Report were made powerless.

When the Petroleum Development Act 1974 was passed, Zainnal said that there
were three things that should be noted: Petroliam Nasional Berhad or Petronas,
a company fully-owned by the federal government was created; that the Act
transferred ownership of all territorial waters from the federal government to
Petronas and it did not give the power for Petronas to sell petroleum and gas.

Through the new ordinances and gazettes, Zainnal said that the continental shelf
of both Borneo states were limited to just three nautical miles.

Sabah and Sarawak territorial waters were reduced from 350 miles to three
nautical miles

So what effectively happened is that, we had 350 miles of continental shelf, and
suddenly they issued this kind of law and it gets reduced to three nautical miles.

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The emergency ordinance limited the territorial waters so that whatever was
beyond three nautical miles now belonged to the federal government and that is
how they took our wealth, said Zainnal of the impact of the emergency
ordinance.

By virtue of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No. 7 1969, the

Continental Shelf Act 1966 of Sabah and Sarawak was owned by the federal
state. There was nothing that the leaders in Sabah and Sarawak could do at that
time, said Zainal. Because in the state of emergency, nothing that the federal
does can be challenged as unconstitutional.

How did we get it back?

On November 23, 2011, when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak lifted
the Emergency Proclamation based on Article 150 (7), Zainnal said that the three
laws no longer had any effect on Sabah and Sarawak, which meant that the
territorial waters belonged to Sabah and Sarawak.

He added that the Petroleum Development Act was only to mislead the people
who wished to challenge its legality as it was an unconstitutional act to create a
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

Six months after lifting of proclamation is on May 24, 2012. This means the
Continental Shelf Act, Petroleum Act and Emergency (Essential Powers)
Ordinance no. 7 1969 were not possible in Sabah and Sarawak anymore, said
Zainnal.

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A book signing session at the end of his talk

So, without the Continental Shelf Act, the federal government does not own the
continental shelf in Sabah and Sarawak, concluded Zainnal.

With the Continental Shelf Act and the Emergency Proclamation being lifted in
2011, the continental shelf belongs to the people of Sabah and Sarawak and
whatever happens in the future is up to the people in Borneo to fill in the
blanks and decide.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017

NAJIB MUST GIVE US BACK OUR OIL-RICH

CONTINENTAL SHELF SARAWAK FOR
SARAWAKIANS WARN ABANG JO
KUCHING The Sarawak government must reclaim the states continental shelf
which was taken by Putrajaya, Sarawak For Sarawakians (S4S) civil movement
leader Peter John Jaban said today.

The group said the state government must bring the matter to Parliament,
following the enactment of the Continental Shelf Act 1966 and the Territorial Sea
Act 2012.

This comes one of the recently declassified British colonial governments

documents confirmed that Sarawak owned the natural resources in the seabeds
and subsoils in the continental shelf within the states boundaries.

Reclaiming the continental shelf must be accorded a high priority by the state
government before we lose all our oil and gas resources to Petronas, he told
reporters, referring to the government-owned firm.

He was responding to the success of the state legal teams trip to London to
retrieve documents from the British National Archives and from the
Commonwealth Library and Archive at Marlborough House in London.

The documents which were stamped secret or confidential when Sarawak

was under the British colony from 1946 to 1963 were recently declassified by the
British government.

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Sarawak For Sarawakians (S4S) civil movement leader Peter John Jaban wants
reclaiming continental shelf given a high priority

Sarawak has earlier this week said the recently declassified documents found by
the state legal team in London will add strength to its position in the discussions
with Putrajaya on the matter of state autonomy.

Jaban noted that one of the most important documents taken back by the legal
team was the Sarawak (Alteration of Boundaries) Order 1954 made by the
Queen in Council for the determination of the boundaries of Sarawaks land, sea,
and continental shelf limits prior to Malaysia Day.

Therefore, I urge the state government to take a step further by taking the
continental shelf issue to Parliament, he said, adding the state government must
now go beyond the political sphere and seriously consider legal redress as an
option in this particular matter.

He said it is encouraging to see that focus is being placed on the states legal
rights to its oil and gas revenues and the boundaries of its continental shelf.

Malay Mail

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Pledge to review MA63, let Sabah, S'wak decide edu
system
Published on: Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Kuching: Pakatan Harapan promised Sarawak and Sabah it would revisit the
Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and renegotiate a deal that would be fair to all,
ahead of polls due by August 2018, Malaysian Insight reported.
Amidst shouts of "hidup Tun" (long live Tun) from some 2,000 people who braved
Kuching's evening thunderstorm, the coalition chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad
said what was needed were fair terms to all the three territories that agreed to
form Malaysia Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya.

Dr Mahathir said the federal governments before and after him had deemed fit to
renege on MA63 by going to parliament where MPs from Malaya are in the
majority to bulldoze what had been agreed.

Dr Mahathir, Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister from 1981 to 2003, said

there were never any negotiations on what they wanted.

"Parliament is their (the federal government's) power. Of course in Parliament,

Sabah and Sarawak MPs are outnumbered," he said in reference to controversial
laws Sarawak and Sabah are disputing like the Continental Shelf Act 1966 and
the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974.

The Continental Shelf Act reduced Sarawak and Sabah's sea borders from
19.3km to 4.8km while the PDA vested all exploration and exploitation of
petroleum onshore or offshore to Petronas even though the rights to mining
had been given to the state under the MA63.

The two states had long claimed the two laws were designed to plunder their oil
and gas.

"There were never any negotiations," Dr Mahathir told the crowd in the residential
estate of Taman BDC a DAP stronghold which is in the Stampin parliamentary
constituency.

"Only debated and passed without any consideration for the feelings of the
people of Sarawak and Sabah.

"We are ruled by parliament, where MPs from Malaya far outnumber those from
Sarawak and Sabah."

Parliament has 222 seats but only 56 are from the two Borneo states 31 from
Sarawak and 25 from Sabah.

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"We are revisiting the agreement because we know the people are unhappy
about it."

Dr Mahathir also denied he passed the PDA as claimed by some Barisan

Nasional politicians.

"I had been accused. (But) I was not the prime minister then.

"The prime minister who passed the PDA was Tun Razak, (prime minister) Najib
Razak's father."

Dr Mahathir also said PH would give Sarawak and Sabah the right to decide the
kind of education system it wants as stipulated under the MA63, adding that the
two states have the right to have their own education system.

Sarawak had also long demanded the medium of instruction in its school should
be in English but not downplaying the importance of Bahasa Malaysia.

This ceramah is Dr Mahathir's first visit to Sarawak after joining the opposition in
its campaign to oust Najib, whom he called a thief.

Dr Mahathir is still held in high esteem by older voters who practically grew up
during his 22 years in office.

However, a resident in the area, Petrus Jala, said PH was only preaching to the
converted by having the ceramah in a DAP stronghold.

The opposition only holds six of the 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak, all of
them urban, predominantly Chinese seats Bandar Kuching, Stampin, Bandar
Sibu, Lanang, Sarikei and Miri. Except for Miri which is held by PKR, DAP holds
the rest.

The rural Dayak and semi-urban seats are still in the grasp of the BN and there
are no indications that the 92 year-old Dr Mahathir or the also elderly DAP
stalwart Lim Kit Siang, plan to go to the rural areas.

Continental Shelf Act 1966 erodes Sarawaks right over

natural resources
November 2, 2016, Wednesday

KUCHING: The state government has long surrendered its rights over the natural
resources in its water to the federal government by virtue of the Continental Shelf
Act 1966.

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Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen, in saying this yesterday, said Section 3
of the Continental Shelf Act provides: (1) All rights with respect to the exploration
of the continental shelf and the exploitation of its natural resources are hereby
vested in Malaysia and shall be exercisable by the Federal Government.

In short, the federal government has, through the Continental Shelf Act,
acquired the rights over exploration of natural resources in Sarawak water, he
said in a press statement.

Chong, who is also state DAP chairman and Kota Sentosa assemblyman, added
that all rights and ownership of petroleum whether on-shore or off-shore of
Malaysia should be vested in a corporation by virtue of Petroleum Development
Act 1974.

He said Section 2(1) of the Petroleum Development Act provides: The entire
ownership in, and the exclusive rights, powers, liberties and privileges of
exploring, exploiting, winning and obtaining petroleum whether on-shore or off-
shore of Malaysia shall be vested in a Corporation to be incorporated under the
Companies Act 1965, or under the law relating to incorporation of companies.

After the passing of this Act, he said Petronas was incorporated and given the
exclusive rights and ownership of all petroleum in Malaysia including that in
Sarawak.

Thereafter, in 1976, the Sarawak government entered into the Production

Sharing Agreement with Petronas agreeing to a five per cent of oil and gas
royalties, he added.

Therefore, with or without the Territorial Sea Act, the oil and gas rights has long
been sold out by the Sarawak government to the federal government. One point
to note, all these laws taking away the rights and wealth of Sarawak were tabled
and passed by the BN government and Sarawak BN had many federal ministers
who had a part to play in approving the laws.

Whether the Territorial Sea Act amounted to an encroachment of Sarawaks

boundary or otherwise, he said it would be a matter of legal interpretation of the
provisions of the Act. He said the only body which could give a final and
conclusive interpretation to the said Act was the Federal Court.

More importantly, he said the Territorial Sea Act is just a re-affirmation of the
agreed arrangement on Sarawaks boundary between the Sarawak government
and the federal government.

That is why a BN federal minister from Peninsular Malaysia tabled the Bill and a
Sarawak BN deputy minister seconded it. The Bill was also debated before a
Sarawakian Deputy Speaker Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who

18
allowed it to be debated and passed. Wan Junaidi has since been promoted to a
full federal minister.

If Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem and the Sarawak
government are serious and confident about their views that the Territorial Sea
Act is unconstitutional and that by virtue of the said Act, the federal government
has unlawfully encroached upon the territory of Sarawak, it serves no purpose for
Adenan to only talk big in Sarawak but does nothing in Parliament.

As such, Chong suggested that Adenan do the followings:

1. Instruct anyone of the federal ministers from Sarawak BN to table a Bill in

Parliament to repeal the Territorial Sea Act;

2. Challenge the constitutionality of the said Territorial Sea Act in Federal Court
on ground of unconstitutionality;

3. Withdraw from Barisan Nasional and make the Umno-led BN the opposition.

He said if Adenan did not carry out any of the above-mentioned measures, he
could pass another 100 motions in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) or
repeat his argument another 100 times in Sarawak, but the Act would still be a
valid Act.

I thus call upon Adenan to stop play-acting but take real action. Everydays
delay in him taking real action is everydays loss of oil revenue to Sarawak.

He may be friendly to Umno/BN leaders, but such friendliness should not be at

the expense of Sarawaks interest, added Chong.

Petronas, Putrajaya have no rights in Borneo waters

Winston Way
Free Malaysia Today |

When premier Najib lifted the Emergency proclaimation on Nov 23, 2011, three
governing laws ceased to have any effect on Sabah and Sarawak.

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KUCHING: All the oil and gas in the territorial waters of Sabah and Sarawak
belong to the respective state governments and not Petronas, claims Parti
Kerjasama Rakyat Sabah (Pakar) secretary general Zainnal Ajamain.

Zainnal, who is one of the six plaintiffs who took Petronas and the Sabah State
Government to court in Sept 25, 2012 also asserted that 100% of the offshore
petroleum and gas found in Sabah and Sarawak territorial waters actually belong
to the people in Sabah and Sarawak.

These territorial waters were forcefully taken from Sabah and Sarawak by the
Federal Government using three acts of Parliament, namely The Continental
Shelf Act 1966, The Petroleum Mining Act 1966 and The Emergency (Essential
Powers) Ordinance no.7 1969, he said.

This situation, according to him was created when Prime Minister Najib Tun
Razak lifted the Emergency Proclamation based on Article 150 (7) on the Nov
23, 2011.

By this proclamation it means that all laws created by the Emergency (Essential
Powers) Act 1979 cease to have any effect six months after the proclamation
was made which means May 24, 2012.

Ownership of all territorial waters in Sabah and Sarawak which extent to 180 km
as provided for under the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in
Council 1954 reverts to Sabah and Sarawak.

Section (2) of the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954
says, The boundaries of the Colony of North Borneo are hereby extended to
include the area of the continental shelf being the seabed and its subsoil which
lies beneath the high seas contiguous to the territorial waters of North Borneo,
Zainnal said in a statement to FMTBorneoPlus.

According to Zainnal, the federal government used the Petroleum Development

Act 1974 to transfer exclusive rights, powers, liberties and privileges of exploring,

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exploiting, winning and obtaining petroleum whether onshore or offshore of
Malaysia to be vested in a corporation, which was Petronas.

This was possible by using the three acts of Parliament, namely The Continental
Shelf Act 1966, The Petroleum Mining Act 1966 and The Emergency (Essential
Powers) Ordinance no.7 1969.

The Continental Shelf Act 1966 sets the stage where it defines continental shelf
as the sea-bed and subsoil of submarine areas adjacent to the coast of Malaysia
but beyond the limits of the territorial waters of the States, the surface of which
lies at a depth no greater than two hundred meters below the surface of the sea,
or, where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the
natural resources of the said areas, at any greater depth.

With this Act the Federal Government took over the Continental Shelf which
was already established for Sabah and Sarawak through the North Borneo
(Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council, 1954, said Zainnal.

The two Acts cannot be enforced in Sabah and Sarawak because enforcement
requires gazette and this gazette requires the approval of the Dewan Undangan
Negeri of Sabah and Sarawak.

The Federal Government however circumvented the need to get the approval of
Sabah and Sarawak State Governments by gazetting the two Acts using the
gazette P.U. (A) 467/1969 Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No.10 of
1969 dated 8th November 1969.

The third law passed was the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No.7
1969 was Section 4 (2) which says: For the purposes of the Continental Shelf
Act, 1966, the Petroleum Mining Act, 1966, the National Land Code and any
written law relating to land in force in Sabah and Sarawak, any reference to
territorial waters therein shall in relation to any territory be construed as a
reference to such part of the sea adjacent to the coast thereof not exceeding
three nautical miles measured from the low-water mark, he said.

Zainnal added that under the third law the territorial water of every state is limited
to three nautical miles measured from the low-water mark.

This means that with this Ordinance, everything above the three nautical miles
belongs to the Federal Government, he said.

He reiterated that the three laws ceased to have any effect on Sabah and
Sarawak when Najib lifted the Emergency proclaimation on Nov 23,2011.

This also means the rightful owners of the territorial waters now are the State
Government of Sabah and Sarawak this also means that after the proclamation

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of emergency is lifted the Federal government does not have the rights to
transfer these territorial waters to Petronas.

Therefore why do the people in Sabah and Sarawak need to demand or

request from the Federal Government for 20 percent of their own properties?
Zainnal asked alluding to growing calls in Sabah and Sarawak for a review of the
current 5% oil royalty.

Last week, the three Barisan Nasional component parties youth wings issued a
joint statement demanding the federal government increase the oil royalty from
5% to 20%.

Youth leaders Jake Jikulin Nointin (PBS), Author Kurup (PBRS) and Arthun
Sen (Upko) were backing an earlier call on the issue by Sarawak Chief Minister
Adenan Satem.

On the weekend Sabah Umno deputy liasion chief Salleh Said Keruak also urged
Putrajaya not to ignore the growing calls for a review of the percentage.

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