PUTRAJAYA: The cabinet has agreed to transfer the full regulatory control of gas supply to the Sabah government.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the implementation date for the transfer would be announced after getting the consent of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
"The power to decide (gas) prices was previously in the hands of the federal government and Petronas, but with this transfer of (autonomous) power, it will be in the hands of the Sabah government," he told reporters after chairing a cabinet meeting here today.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said the matter was decided as part of the government's efforts to uphold the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Similarly, he said, autonomy was granted to Sarawak in March 2018 when the state government assumed full regulatory authority over the upstream and downstream aspects of the oil and gas industry in the state.
Anwar said after the reassignment of power, the Sabah government could continue with negotiations on gas supply in the state without having to wait for the federal administration.
On MA63, Anwar said the MA63 Committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, had been given a month to resolve issues surrounding the restoration of Sabah's and Sarawak's rights.
"The deadline for this is in early January, and we will make several announcements on the issues that have been resolved.
"However, there may be several items involving the law and legislation that would need to wait until (they could be discussed in) Parliament."