KUCHING, Feb 22 — The Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 is just like any other law and is still subject to the Federal Constitution, said Deputy Minister of Law, MA63 and State-Federal Relations Datuk Seri Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.

“The PDA 1974 and the Sarawak Distribution of Gas Ordinance (DGO) 2016 are both in force, but this does not mean, and we never say that, the PDA 1974 is absolute.

“Our stance has always been that both federal and state laws must be respected and must coexist,” she said in a statement.

She added that under Item 8 (j) of the Federal List of the Federal Constitution, the federal government’s control over petroleum is still subject to Item 2(c) of the State List, which grants Sarawak authority over land and its natural resources through prospecting licences, mining leases and certificates.

“The fundamental constitutional structure remains unchanged and the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government has never said that PDA 1974 cancels or overrides Sarawak’s laws or rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” she insisted.

Sharifah Hasidah was reacting to remarks made by certain political blocs, particularly Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong regarding PDA 1974, which she described as ridiculous allegations on Sarawak’s position on its oil and gas rights.

She said the GPS government has always been steadfast in its commitment to defending Sarawak’s rights and autonomy, particularly its natural resources.

“YB Pending’s allegations that there was a betrayal of Sarawak’s rights over petroleum resources is malicious falsehoods to the extreme. Over the last 10 years, Sarawak has regained much rights over petroleum — since 2020, Sarawak has regained full control over onshore mining,” she said.

She pointed out a mining lease had been issued under the Oil Mining Ordinacne of Sarawak to Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (petros) to explore and produce petroleum in the Adong Kechik West area in Miri, with oil production commencing in the next few months and marking the first time in over 50 years that oil production was taking place on land in the state.

She noted that until Petros’ formation, Sarawak had no rights or equity in any of the oil and gas fields in the offshore areas of the state but today, it has equity in five oil and gas producing blocks in the Continental Shelf.

Petros will continue to grow, as it is involved in oil and gas explorations in the five offshore blocks and will potentially spearhead the development of rich gas reserves in the waters of western Sarawak, she said.

“All these facts show the GPS government is regaining inalienable rights over its oil and gas resources, PDA 1974 notwithstanding. In the downstream activities, Sarawak will control the distribution of gas in the state through the DGO 2016.

“The GPS government will ensure our gas resources will be used sustainably, because the current trend of exporting 94 per cent of natural gas produced in the state is not a sustainable use of depleting resources.

“We have been assured of at least 1.2bmmsfd of gas to support the State Gas Roadmap, which would enable the state to attract more foreign investments, support greater power generation and propel Sarawak to be the clean hub of Asean as announced by the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim),” she said.

She added these efforts by the GPS government prove it has not and would not betray the people of Sarawak.

On Thursday, Yong in a press statement claimed many Sarawakians were disappointed with the GPS government’s full recognition of the PDA 1974 and that it was contrary to GPS questioning the validity of the Act in recent years.

She pointed out that the recent statement from the Sarawak Premier’s Office clearly indicates that the GPS government has abandoned its previous claims and is now fully recognising the PDA 1974.

She said past statements about safeguarding Sarawak’s oil and gas rights were nothing more than empty rhetoric aimed at winning votes, and stressed that Sarawakians deserve an explanation for this drastic U-turn. — The Borneo Post