NOVEMBER 2024
Sarawak Remains Resolute In Protecting Rights - Premier
KUCHING, Wed: Sarawak remains resolute in defending its inalienable rights and ensuring compliance with its laws to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and resource control, says the Premier of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Johari Tun Abang Haji Openg today.
He stated that Sarawak’s sovereign rights over its land, resources, and the continental shelf were entrenched in the MA63, State Constitution and Federal Constitution, exercised consistently by Sarawak.
The Premier stated this in his budget winding-up speech at the State Legislative Sitting at Dewan Undangan Negeri here, today.
This remark came at the back of the refusal of Petronas to eventually surrender control of the natural gas distribution in Sarawak to Petros as the single gas aggregator in accordance with the provisions of the Gas Distribution Ordinance (2016).
The Premier emphasised that Sarawak’s seabed and subsoil, originally Crown land under the Land Code of 1958, became the property of the Sarawak government upon Malaysia’s formation on Malaysia Day, 1963.
“This is clearly provided for under Article 47(2) of Constitution of the State of Sarawak, as annexed to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” he told the sitting.
He pointed out that MA63 and the United Kingdom’s Malaysia Act, 1963 did not vest any land comprised in the Continental Shelf within Sarawak’s boundaries on the Federation or the Federal Government, hence the Federal Government had no proprietary rights to Sarawak’s seabed and subsoil or its continental shelf, as these were vested solely in the State of Sarawak by operation of law.
“The boundaries of Sarawak, protected under Article 2 of the Federal Constitution, cannot be altered without the consent of the State Legislature, further securing the state’s territorial integrity,” he further pointed out.
He stated that the Continental Shelf (Amendment) Act 2009 explicitly provided for the protection of state rights over the seabed and subsoil within state boundaries, aligning federal legislation with Sarawak’s sovereignty.
In light of these laws, the Premier asserted that Sarawak’s claims to the oil and gas resources within its territory were neither baseless nor unreasonable, and that it had historically exercised these rights both during British colonial rule and post-independence.
“Therefore, nobody is entitled to question Sarawak’s inalienable rights to the continental shelf within its boundaries. To do so would not only be against MA63, but would also constitute an infringement of the State and Federal Constitutions.
“Sarawak’s inalienable rights over that part of the Continental Shelf which lies within the territory of Sarawak, is non-negotiable,” he pointed out.
He said the right of the Sarawak Government to see that its laws were complied with should not be questioned by any quarters and that Sarawak’s rights and legislative authority expressly enshrined in the Federal Constitution were not encroached.
He stated that Sarawak maintained legislative authority over its resources through the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 and the Distribution of Gas Ordinance, 2016 and that these two legislations were within the legislative competence of the Sarawak legislature to enact.
“Therefore, any entities engaging in resource exploration and extraction are required to adhere to Sarawak’s laws, which regulate oil and gas activities both onshore and within its continental shelf,” he further told the sitting.