Having a 10 per cent stake in the Petronas-owned Liquified Natural Gas Sdn Bhd 9 (LNG9) in Bintulu is not the same with having the annual cash payment or oil royalty increased to 20 per cent.
These were totally two different things.
A state-owned company is managed by their management and board of directors. A company’s account is not disclosed to public except it is public listed company.
So can we debate the LNG company performance in state assembly? How can we as state assemblyman to question the state company’s performance?
Not every one is Rafizi or Tony Pua who is familiar to read the company profit and loss account.
Oil royalty paid in the form of cash payment is very significant to the state revenue.
One third of state revenue is generated from oil royalty. Another one third from the crude palm oil (CPO) sales tax.
Can we imagine profit of Yayasan Sabah subsidiary in plantation can directly replace CPO sales tax? Can we imagine we don’t want CPO sales tax then taking profit from state plantation company as revenue?
The people wanted cash payment increased not company shares.
We can debate how to use the oil royalty for the State development but we can’t direct a state company’s development direction, investment strategy etc.
Please respect people wisdom when painting a glossy picture for us.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman had announced on Wednesday that Petronas had agreed to give the State Government a 10 per cent stake in LNG9 following several negotiations.
He also said that the State Government was committed to developing Sabah’s oil and gas industry clearly demonsrated by high impact projects such as the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial that also houses, among others, the RM4.5 billion Sabah Ammonia Urea Plant.
“I am confident that through the close cooperation with Petronas, Sabah can expect more exciting developments in the oil and gas industry,” said Musa.