In a statement issued by the chief secretary to the premier it mentioned that the Sarawak GPS government said it maintained the stand the Oil and Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 co-exist with the Petroleum Development Act 1974(PDA74) to ensure that rights of Sarawak is protected.

The Sarawak govenment failed to explain how OMO and PDA 74 work to protect the interests of Sarawak.

The crux of the matter is who has the ownership of the oil and gas resources that are extracted from the soils of Sarawak?

The Sarawak government has to explain this to Sarawakians by evidence, not only by mere press statements.

Sections 2 and 3 of Petroleum Development Act 1974 is clear to vest irrevocable ownership of all petroleum resources in the hands of PETRONAS.

Petroleum Development Act 1974 gives the entire ownership and exclusive rights and privileges in exploring, and exploiting petroleum resources from land and shores of Sarawak.

The Petroleum Development Act was passed by Parliament and unless repealed, petroleum resources is still in the hands of PETRONAS.

Therefore, the Sarawak government cannot have or claim ownership of the oil and gas resources anymore.

To say the PDA 74 and OMO co-exist to ensure rights of Sarawak is protected tantamounts to Sarawak is also admitting that the ownership of oil and gas resources extracted from in shores and off shores of Sarawak are vested in PETRONAS.

Petroleum Development Act sits above the Oil and Mining Ordinance and the Sarawak govenment could not claim OMO is more powerful than PDA 74.

What Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) had been fighting all these years is for the return of all the oil and gas resources back to Sarawak and it is really disappointing that both the Sarawak GPS government and DAP Sarawak had failed Sarawakians to have these resources returned to Sarawak despite they have the capability to influence the federal government to do this.

DAP was part of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Chong Chieng Jen being a Deputy Minister in PH government should seek to revoke PDA74 which if I am mistaken he had not done. DAP is still part of the federal government at the moment by bringing the MANDANI government and Chong Chieng Jen should get PDA 74 revoked and get these Petroleum resources returned to Sarawak.

GPS is also part of the federal government and had been blowing hot and cold over the ownership of these oil and gas resources.

For Chong Chieng Jen in a press statement to say Sarawak may have surrendered her oil and gas resources to federal government is incorrect and has to be corrected because these oil and gas resources had never been taken back or been returned to Sarawak since the Petroleum Development Act 1974 was passed.

Chong Chieng Jen and DAP Sarawak should together with the Sarawak GPS government as custodian of our right and property be held accountable by Sarawakians for not able to seek the return of these oil and gas resources back for Sarawak.

It was disclosed by The President/Chief Executive Officer of PETRONAS, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, to the press on 18 August 2017, PETRONAS pumped an average of 850,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Sarawak from sixty oil producing fields. Taken at USD75 per barrel in past few days,Sarawak lost more than one hundred billion ringgit a year of this crude oil resources pumped by PETRONAS. What Sarawak normally got in return was always less than five billion Ringgit each year as Annual Development Fund from the federal government.

Voon Lee Shan President Parti Bumi Kenyalang

9 February 2025