KUCHING: The Sarawak government needs to be given full opportunity to manage its own oil and gas resources.
For experienced political analyst Datuk Peter Minos, it is important for Sarawak to have full control over the management of oil and gas as it has been the aspiration of its people for a long time.
"I am confident that all will be back to normal and rosy for Malaysia, through better governance of its economy under the leadership of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and giving the state government the power to administer its oil and gas.
"The Sarawak government has left the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Datuk Seri Najib Razak, on the back of the financial misappropriation scandals and greed. Most importantly, the state government has pledged to be partners with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Government," he told NSTP here, today.
Commenting on the Federal Court's decision on June 22, which dismissed PETRONAS's petition to get recognition of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974, Peter said the nation's oil and gas company should take a closer look at the aspirations of the people of Sarawak.
"If PETRONAS still insists on bringing up the case to the High Court, the Sarawak people would surely feel that the company and Kuala Lumpur are blatantly ignoring the interest of Sarawak and its future. This could have a bad impact on everyone," he said.
Peter said if PETRONAS decides to take the case to the High Court, itld not only face opposition from the state government, but also the people of Sarawak regardless of political and racial backgrounds.
"PETRONAS seems to want to deny Sarawak's rights to manage its oil and gas resources, like how it has been doing in managing its land and forest resources," he added.
Peter said PETRONAS and Kuala Lumpur had benefited from hundreds of billions of dollars since PDA was enforced in 1974.
"Now, it's Sarawak turn to reap from its own mineral resources to support the socio-economic development. It's now or never," he added.
Get the latest World Cup 2018 scores, highlights and updates from our dedicated news page. Click here