www.malaysiakini.com
Oct 5, 2000
Payment to Terengganu is an 'oil royalty'
Ng Boon Hooi and Susan Loone
9pm, THURS: Agreements pertaining to the payment by oil company Petronas to
Terengganu state that it is royalty payable in cash to the state government
and not "goodwill" payment as claimed by the prime minister, according to
documents made available to malaysiakini today.
"These documents show that the cash payment is well understood as royalty
payment and not 'goodwill' payment, and this has been the case under the
1987 agreement," said Terengganu exco member Mustafa Ali.
"Umno has been saying that it is a 'goodwill' payment, a term which did not
appear at all in the agreements. By exposing these documents, the lawyers
and public will now know the real situation," he added.
Mustafa told malaysiakini this after the announcement of the
declassification of the three documents pertaining to the oil royalty
payment by Mentri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang yesterday. The documents were
previously classified under the Official Secrets Act.
Hadi Awang said the decision to declassify the documents, copies of which
were faxed to malaysiakini, was taken to clear the confusion following the
federal government's interference into an agreement signed between the state
and Petronas.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently claimed that the payment was not royalty but a
"goodwill" payment made to the state in consideration of its economic
backwardness.
He also said the federal government does not trust the PAS-led government to
handle the money and therefore wants the "goodwill" payment to go directly
to financing infrastructure instead of being channelled through the state
government.
While the original agreement in 1975 did not specifically refer to the
payments as oil royalty, a 1987 letter which confirmed an agreement on a
number of technical issues relating to the payment did refer to it as such.
If Petronas refuse to pay the royalty due, Mustafa said, the state
government will take further action.
Seventy-five to 80 percent of the state expenses come from the royalty
payment. In February, Petronas paid RM432 million to the Terengganu state
government and the remaining amount of RM378 million was due last month.
Cash payment
Under the agreement made on March 22, 1975, between Terengganu and Petronas,
it was agreed that:
1. (1) Petronas shall make to the government cash payment in the form of
yearly sum amounting to the equivalent of five percent of the value of the
petroleum won and saved in Terengganu and sold by Petronas or its agents or
contractors during the period provided in Clause 2.
(2) The value to be applied for the purpose of sub-clause (1) of this cause
shall be the realised six-monthly average f.o.b. price obtained by Petronas
or its agents.
2. The cash payment payable under this agreement shall be paid
semi-annually. Payment in respect of petroleum won, saved and sold in the
first half year period shall be made on or before the first day of September
and payment in respect of petroleum won, saved and sold in the second
half-year period shall be made on or before the first day of March of the
following year.
"The evidence from the three released documents is strong enough to support
our stand," said Mustapha, who is the state exco in charge of economic
development, petroleum, industrial and human resources.
He, however, said that Terengganu will not boycott Petronas and its products
since the state's grouses are with the federal government and not Petronas.
State grant still owing
Meanwhile, Mustapha revealed that the federal government still owes
Terengganu its annual state grant which has now amounted to RM76 million.
He said that this allocation, which amounts to 20 percent of the state's
expenses, is stipulated in the Constitution and must be paid by the end of
the year.
The Terengganu state government affirmed that it will only resort to court
action as a last resort to demand oil royalty payment from the federal
government.
Previous stories
<<...>> Petronas 'simpati' nasib Terengganu
,
23-24 Sept
<<...>> Release payment to Terengganu, DAP says
, Sept
22
<<...>> 'PM lied regarding oil royalty payment'
, Sept
19
<<...>> Federal government 'hypocritical', says Hadi
, Sept
7
<<...>> Honour oil agreement, urges Terengganu MP
, Sept
7
<<...>> Government accused of 'hijacking' Terengganu's oil royalty
, Sept
6
Sept 23, 2000
Petronas 'simpati' nasib Terengganu
'Ein Azmi
6:15pm, SAB: Petronas melahirkan "rasa simpati" terhadap kerajaan PAS
Terengganu apabila negeri itu tidak lagi menerima wang royalti minyak sejak
Kementerian Kewangan memutuskan untuk menyalurkan wang ehsan sebagai kaedah
pembayaran baru.
Pengerusi syarikat petroleum itu, Tan Sri Hassan Merican memberitahu
demikian dalam satu pertemuan dengan rombongan wakil kerajaan negeri
baru-baru ini, kata Ketua Jawatankuasa Pembangunan Petroleum Terengganu,
Mustafa Ali.
Mustafa hari ini juga mendedahkan, Petronas bercadang membayar royalti
sebanyak lima peratus setiap tahun seperti dalam perjanjian dan perkara itu
telah ditegaskan kembali oleh Hassan pada Jun lalu.
"Bagaimanapun, kerajaan pusat mengarahkan Petronas agar tidak meneruskan
bayaran (seperti biasa) kepada Terengganu," kata Mustafa kepada lebih kurang
1,000 peserta seminar khas anjuran Barisan Alternatif bertajuk "Royalti
minyak: Politik khianat dan balas dendam BN" di Ulu Klang pagi ini.
"Kita faham Petronas dan kita jangan salah mereka."
Turut menyampaikan ucapan dalam sesi awal majlis itu termasuklah Menteri
Besar Abdul Hadi Awang dan Presiden PAS Datuk Fadzil Mohd Noor.
Mustafa turut mendedahkan langkah kerajaan pusat itu akan menimbulkan
masalah kewangan yang besar kepada negeri itu kerana kira-kira 75 hingga 80
peratus pendapatan datangnya daripada minyak.
Terengganu sepatutnya menerima RM810 juta daripada hasil royalti untuk tahun
ini dan Petronas telah membayar RM432 juta pada Februari lepas.
Bagaimanapun, bakinya dipercayai disalurkan melalui kaedah wang ehsan.
Kementerian Kewangan awal bulan ini mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa kaedah
baru itu bertujuan menggantikan royalti dan akan diuruskan oleh sebuah
Jawatankuasa Peringkat Pusat (JPP) yang ditubuhkan khusus bagi merangka
pelaksanaan program pembangunan di Terengganu.
Mahathir 'berbohong'
Dalam belanjawan tahun ini, Terengganu memperuntukkan sejumlah dana yang
besar untuk pembangunan dan kegagalan mendapatkan wang royalti itu akan
mengganggu pentadbiran negeri itu, tambah exco kanan itu lagi.
Peruntukan itu termasuklah, dana-dana untuk rakyat miskin sebanyak RM21
juta, pinjaman perumahan kakitangan kerajaan negeri (RM20 juta), perumahan
rakyat (RM10 juta), pinjaman usahawan kecil (RM10 juta), imbuhan imam dan
bilal (RMRM7 juta), jawatankuasa syura rakyat (RM6.5 juta) dan pinjaman
pendidikan (RM2.8 juta).
Mustafa juga mendedahkan kerajaan pusat gagal membuat pembayaran geran
sejumlah RM11.2 juta kepada negeri itu.
"Setakat ini, baru dapat RM3 juta sahaja. Selebihnya tidak tahu (bila akan
diberikan)," katanya, sambil berhujah kerajaan pusat sewajarnya membuat
pembayaran separuh daripada jumlah itu pada Februari dan Oktober setiap
tahun.
Sementara itu, Ketua Jawatankuasa Hisbah negeri, Tun Mohamad Salleh Abas
mempertikaikan Perdana Menteri yang membuat kenyataan pada 15 September lalu
kononnya royalti diberikan kepada Terengganu dengan alasan negeri itu paling
miskin pada waktu itu.
Bekas Ketua Hakim Negara itu berkata Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad
"berbohong," sambil menjelaskan asal-usul penggubalan undang-undang
petroleum 1974 dan perjanjian antara syarikat minyak itu dengan kerajaan
negeri.
Sementara itu dalam sesi forum, pengerusi panel Profesor K S Jomo menuduh
kerajaan pusat di bawah pimpinan Dr Mahathir mengikis hasil Petronas melalui
pelbagai projek sejak awal 1980-an.
Beliau mendakwa Petronas sepatutnya memperolehi sejumlah RM300 bilion sejak
beroperasi tetapi syarikat itu kini hanya mendapat RM50 bilion.
Jomo menyebutkan beberapa bantuan kewangan syarikat minyak itu kepada Bank
Bumiputra dalam skandal kewangan BMF, menyelamat konsortium perkapalan MISC,
dan juga membina beberapa projek mewah seperti Dayabumi, Putrajaya dan
menara berkembara KLCC.
Turut menyampaikan ucapan dalam seminar tersebut termasuklah Presiden PRM,
Dr Syed Husin Ali, Naib Pengerusi DAP Dr Tan Seng Giaw dan Naib Presiden
Parti Keadilan Nasional Zainur Zakaria.
Pusat 'hina' kerajaan PAS Terengganu
(12
Sept)
Rais: Kenyataan bukan 'surat layang'
(7
Sept)
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