Kuala Lumpur: An attempt by the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) to simultaneously move emergency motions on Petronas' 500km gas pipeline project from Kimanis in Sabah to Bintulu in Sarawak met with failure when both the Dewan Rakyat and the Sabah State Assembly rejected them, Monday.
Both the assemblies held the view that although the RM3 billion project was a specific matter and of public interest, there was no urgency to debate it.
Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar turned it down when it was brought up by Sepangar MP Datuk Eric Majimbun, while Sabah State Assembly Speaker Datuk Juhar Mahiruddin did the same when Likas Assemblyman Datuk Liew Teck Chan raised it in Kota Kinabalu.
Eric, when raising the motion, said as the natural resource was coming from Sabah, it was only right that it be developed for the benefit of the people of Sabah.
Juhar told Liew that there would be ample opportunities to debate the matter during the Assembly sitting.
The Federal Government recently announced that the project would go ahead and that only surplus gas after meeting Sabah's petrochemical industry needs would be piped to Sarawak. The project is scheduled to be completed by March 2011.
At the Parliament lobby later, Sepanggar MP Datuk Eric Enchin Majimbun requested the Federal Government to revise the Petroleum Act 1976 to re-determine the oil royalties paid to Sabah for the State's development.
He said the Act should be revised every 10 years by taking into account, the gas pipe routes and fuel volume channelled to Bintulu, Sarawak, through Sabah in the interest of the public.
"Petronas and the Federal Government must see all this, instead of just saying they will pay the five per cent royalty," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Tawau MP Datuk Chua Soon Bui said she supported the motion by Eric to cancel the 500km gas pipes from Kimanis, Sabah to Bintulu, Sarawak, costing RM3 billion.
She said the RM3 billion could be used to build more low-cost housing for the very poor families and for the improvement of basic infrastructures in Sabah.
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