KOTA KINABALU, 18 Jan (Bernama) -- Seorang tokoh akademik berkata sebarang cadangan mengenai kenaikan royalti minyak kepada Sabah harus diukur secara realistik, bukan dengan janji palsu.
Pensyarah Sekolah Sains Sosial Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Prof Madya Dr Asmady Idris percaya kerajaan Barisan Nasional mempunyai formula terbaik untuk menambahbaik sasaran peratus royalti minyak negeri.
"Pihak pembangkang meletakkan sasaran peratus kenaikan royalti minyak sewenang-wenangnya tetapi rakyat bijak mengukurnya secara realistik," katanya kepada Bernama ketika dihubungi di sini, hari ini.
Beliau mengulas kenyataan Setiausaha BN Negeri, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan yang mengingatkan rakyat bahawa janji pembangkang untuk menaikkan 15 peratus royalti minyak kepada Sabah akan akhirnya menjejaskan kewangan Petronas dan boleh membawa kepada muflis.
Abdul Rahman menegaskan bahawa berdasarkan formula semasa, bagi setiap RM100 hasil yang diraih daripada minyak Sabah, lima peratus akan ke tabung negeri manakala lima peratus lagi kepada tabung Persekutuan.
Kira-kira 45 peratus masuk ke dalam kos penemuan dan baki 45 peratus kepada keuntungan kasar usaha sama. Akhirnya, keuntungan Petronas, selepas mengasingkan hasil dengan yang lain dan selepas membayar cukai, hanya kira-kira 16.74 peratus, katanya dalam laporan akhbar baru-baru ini.
Dr Asmady berkata penambahan peratusan ke atas royalti minyak kepada Sabah bukan menjadi ukuran, sebaliknya penilaian rapi keperluan semasa dan pemantauan bekalan minyak itu kepada perkembangan sektor ekonomi negeri Sabah.
Beliau berpendapat bahawa cadangan pembangkang menaikkan 15 peratus royalti minyak kepada Sabah hanya sebagai bahan kempen pilihan raya dengan menjanjikan sesuatu yang belum pasti dapat ditunaikan.
Dalam musim menghadapi pilihan raya, pihak pembangkang boleh berkata apa sahaja sebagai landasan mencapai hasrat mereka tetapi pada akhirnya tiada apa-apa (berlaku), katanya.
Dr Asmady berkata kerajaan hari ini cukup bijak menangani isu yang dibangkitkan pembangkang termasuk soal royalti minyak selain prihatin memikirkan kebaikan rakyat dan membangunkan ekonomi negeri ini ke tahap lebih baik, katanya.
Beliau mencadangkan semua pihak duduk berbincang termasuk Petronas, kerajaan negeri mahupun kerajaan persekutuan bagi mengenal pasti segala faktor berkaitan, termasuk pemantauan domestik kepada prestasi eksport dan import semasa.
Sementara itu, bekas ahli akademik Program Hubungan Industri Sekolah Sains Sosial UMS Prof Madya Dr P. Balakrishnan pula berkata sebarang perubahan ke atas penambahbaikan peratusan royalti minyak harus dibincang secara rapi demi manfaat rakyat.
"Penambahbaikan untuk naik royalti minyak kalau memberi kebaikan kepada rakyat boleh diambil kira," katanya.
Balakrishnan yang kini pensyarah di Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) berkata Petronas perlu membuka lebih peluang ke atas pelaburan dalam pelbagai sektor bagi membantu meningkatkan pertumbuhan ekonomi negeri.
Janji 20 Peratus Royalti Minyak Bukti Pakatan Pembangkang Tak Faham Industri Petroleum
TAWAU, 19 Jan (Bernama) -- Janji menaikkan royalti minyak antara 15 hingga 20 peratus kepada Sabah yang ditabur pakatan pembangkang sekiranya mereka memerintah menunjukkan pembangkang tidak memahami selok-belok industri petroleum.
Sambil menyifatkan ia sebagai janji bohong, Pembantu Menteri Kewangan Sabah Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan berkata sebagai jurutera yang pernah berkerja dengan syarikat petroleum antarabangsa, beliau mengetahui bahawa industri petroleum berisiko tinggi dan memerlukan modal pelaburan yang amat besar.
"Setiap hasil daripada 100 tong minyak Sabah yang dikeluarkan, lima peratus pergi kepada negeri Sabah dan lima peratus lagi kepada kerajaan persekutuan. Sebanyak 45 peratus untuk mencari gali minyak dan 45 peratus lagi adalah keuntungan (kasar) yang dikongsi Petronas dengan rakan syarikat cari gali seperti Shell dan Esso.
"(Selepas pembahagian hasil dan membayar cukai) Hasil yang diperoleh Petronas kira-kira 16 peratus. Sekiranya (royalti Sabah) diberi lagi 10 peratus, Petronas akan tutup," katanya ketika berucap pada majlis penyerahan bantuan Elaun Sara Hidup kepada 504 nelayan Tawau di sini hari ini.
Tawfiq berkata sebagai sebuah daripada syarikat petroleum terbaik di dunia, Petronas perlu terus kukuh kerana ia amat penting kepada Malaysia untuk masa depan negara.
janji2 pembangkang tak boleh kita percayai sangat.
ReplyDeleteFor every RM100 revenue derived from Sabah oil, 5% goes to the state’s coffer while another 5% to the Federal coffer. Approximately 45% goes into recovery cost, and the remaining 45% goes to the joint venture’s gross profit.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, it is clear that Petronas’ profit, after splitting revenue with others and after paying taxes, is only around 16.74%. If Petronas is asked to pay up the extra 15% from its profit margin, this will effectively render them unable to pay their overheads, financial commitments and re-investment for future income. The end result is financial blow which may lead to bankruptcy!
DeleteIf Petronas is unable to pay without jeopardizing its very existence, where would the additional 15% come from then? Obviously there are two other choices left; the PSC partner or the federal government. It is very unlikely for the PSC partner to give up what was already agreed in the contract between them and Petronas. Furthermore, lower profit percentage would make oil exploration in Malaysia unattractive to them.
DeleteIf the joint venture partners refuse jobs in Malaysia, we will not be able to extract our oil in an economically viable manner. This may lead to a serious energy security problem for Malaysia: with no one extracting oil, we may end up importing all of our energy requirement!
DeleteWith Petronas and its joint venture partners unable to commit the extra 15% (or about RM12.5 billion) to the oil producing states of Sabah, Sarawak and Trengganu, the other option is of course to take it from the federal government which receives dividend around RM30 billion annually from Petronas.
DeleteThis option is not without its own ramifications.
With reduced dividend from Petronas, the federal government will have less money for its budget. This means there will be less public spending on subsidies, schools, hospitals, police stations, roads and other infrastructures. Obviously, the most impacted would be the non-oil producing states. Anwar Ibrahim must have the moral courage to inform the non-oil producing states that as a Prime Minister, he will cut their federal allocated budget by RM12.5 billion. Unfortunately this is not happening.
DeleteThe last option available to Anwar Ibrahim is to increase Sabah’s oil royalty by 15% but in order to ensure he has enough funds available for the rest of the country, he will have to cut Sabah’s federal allocation. Remember, cutting Sabah’s federal allocation is within his prerogative as a Prime Minister. This option is plausible given the fact he has never given any assurances publically that he would not cut Sabah’s federal allocation which, at the moment, is one of the highest among all the states in Malaysia.
DeleteIt is actually funny how Anwar hardly shares the specifics of his promise of 15% increase in oil royalty with the rest of the country. Perhaps he knows very well that he won't be able to provide explanation for them. Apparently, keeping Malaysians in the dark makes the illusion easier to perform.
DeleteThis is yet another irresponsible claim by the opposition to gain sympathy votes in Sabah. It is a very powerful lie which if not countered factually, could result in deep division and hatred towards the Barisan Nasional federal government.
ReplyDeleteLet's address this issue objectively and see if it is true that the federal government has been taking so much of Sabah's resources (including oil money) but giving back so little in return.
DeleteContrary to lies spawned by the opposition, the federal government actually spent more (by a whopping RM4.736 billion) in Sabah in 2011 compared to what it collected in the same year!
DeleteFor the year 2012 onwards, there is no reason to believe the trend will reverse itself especially when Dato Sri Najib Tun Razak has made it very clear that special emphasis will be placed on Sabah's development under his economic transformation program.
DeleteTowards this, Barisan Nasional Sabah is happy to note that to date, the Prime Minister has not disappointed Sabahans.
DeleteWill the increase in Sabah’s oil royalty mean reduced federal allocation for development in the state?
ReplyDeleteAnd can the opposition, including Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, should they form the next government, guarantee that federal allocation to Sabah will not be reduced in lieu of the increased revenue derived from the new oil royalty?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThese were the questions raised by Sabah Barisan Nasional secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan who is worried that Sabah will be ‘worse off’ than before should the federal government’s allocation under the Malaysia Plans be reduced.
It is very likely that Sabah may be getting higher oil royalty but in the end will get lower overall funds from Federal Government under his (Anwar’s) prime ministership, Abdul Rahman opinied.
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ReplyDeleteSpeaking to reporters here yesterday, the Kota Belud member of parliament said Anwar had been quoted repeatedly saying that (if Pakatan Rakyat forms the government) he would increase Sabah’s oil royalty from five per cent to 20 per cent.
ReplyDeleteOther opposition leaders like Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan went even further by promising 50 per cent, Abdul Rahman said adding, “As an MP for Sabah, I do not have any reason to reject such wonderful proposal. More money for Sabah is obviously good for us.
“But I am also painfully aware that Anwar has not been fully forthcoming in his proposal. In Parliament I posed a question that if Anwar increased Sabah’s royalty to 20 per cent, could he guarantee that he would not reduce Sabah’s allocation in his federal budget or in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan?
ReplyDelete“I reminded the opposition that Sabah had been consistently given biggest allocations by the federal government both in the Malaysia Plans and the federal government’s annual budget. For example Sabah received RM20.3 billion out of RM230 billion and in First Rolling Plan of the 10th Malaysia Plan, Sabah received RM10.7 billion out of RM98.5 billion.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete“My concern is, while Datuk Seri Anwar may increase Sabah’s share of the royalty, he will have to reduce Sabah allocation in the 11th Malaysia Plan. We may end up worse off! That is why I asked for a guarantee. None of the opposition MPs at that time stood up to reply to argument,” he said.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Abdul Rahman, increases in royalty for Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan would amount to more than RM10 billion a year.
ReplyDeleteAnwar knows very well that the RM10 billion given to the three oil producing states mean RM10 billion taken away from the budget of the other states in Peninsular Malaysia, he pointed out before saying, “I do not think Datuk Seri Anwar dare to say to the people from the non-oil producing states, ‘I am sorry, I have to cut your allocation because I need to give RM10 billion to Terengganu, Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah!.
He (Anwar) cannot afford to say that because the people in these affected states will reject him and this is unacceptable to him since he needs their votes desperately to win Putrajaya, Abdul Rahman stressed.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete“I want to know which state(s) is willing to have their budget reduced because the RM10 billion has to come from somewhere… money does not fall from the sky. Show us which sector he plans to reduce the budget to make up for the increase in oil royalty… which state will sacrifice its allocation?
ReplyDelete“Anwar as a leader must answer this. How is he going to juggle the budget and he must inform the rakyat, Sabahans in particular on how this will be done because it is very likely that Sabah may be getting higher oil royalty but in the end will get lower overall funds from Federal Government under his prime ministership.
ReplyDelete“For every ringgit given to Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan, that one ringgit must come from somebody. This can only mean that some states must be willing to sacrifice their portion of the federal budget.
ReplyDelete“Some projects in Peninsular Malaysia must be cancelled. Question is who and what needs to be sacrificed? Or will Datuk Seri Anwar spend less on security, health, education, infrastructure, public utilities, social etc given the fact he has to spend more on royalty?” he stressed.
ReplyDeleteAnwar must answer these tough questions so that people understand and are convinced, he said adding, “and mind you, Sabahans still remember how Anwar as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister consistently refused PBS’ request for higher royalty.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Abdul Rahman, he will again raise these questions in the next parliamentary sitting which is scheduled to commence on March 12.
He also pointed out that Pakatan Rakyat said they would eradicate corruption and renegotiate lopsided deals which would give the federal government billions in extra funds for the increase in royalty.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAs someone who sits in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Committee (MACC) committee, Abdul Rahman said he hoped they would succeed.
ReplyDelete“Any effort to abolish corruption must be supported and encouraged. I am sure Sabahans share the same view as mine. My concern is not about the effort to check corruption. It is more about Anwar’s rationale of including ‘savings from corruption eradication efforts and renegotiating lopsided deals’ as part of his government’s revenue.
“Can Anwar estimate how much yearly savings he gets from anti-corruption effort? Can he comfortably project such revenue with a high level of accuracy and use the figure to plan his budget?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete“Can Anwar force those IPPs (independent power producers) and highway toll concessionaires to renegotiate the agreements immediately after he swears in as Prime Minister? Or will he face prolonged and protracted battle with the concessionaires?
ReplyDelete“If yes, will his budget revenue projections fall short and hence disturb his spending plans?,” he said and pointed out that no government in this world is using projected savings from corruption as the basis of preparing its budget.
ReplyDelete“That is utterly irresponsible. The budget will be in a mess. Any savings in anti-corruption drive is a bonus, not to be included in the budgeting. When Anwar says he will finance the royalty increase from corruption eradication savings, one has to be worried.
ReplyDelete“My take is he will eventually have to cut allocations to the other states and those states deserve to know the facts. Anwar must give assurance and guarantee that he will not reduce federal allocation for Sabah if the oil royalty is increased.