PKR wants neutral assessment on deposits

18 November, 2008 - Daily Express

Kota Kinabalu: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Vice President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has called for an independent oil and gas consultant to find out whether Sabah's gas deposits are really the least in the nation.

Describing the statement about Sabah's natural resources by Petronas President Tan Sri Hassan Marican as "highly questionable", Jeffrey suggested the former step down if the assessment by the consultant proves to be different from what he claimed.

"If it is the lowest and not viable then why the need to exploit and pipe it or even build a petrochecmical plant?

"Would Petronas just build something for nothing? Or is Marican not telling the truth? What I know from other sources is that Sabah's oil and gas deposits are substantial as those in Sarawak and Terengganu," he said in a statement, Monday.

Jeffrey also challenged Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman to reveal to the public the details of deals discussed with Petronas since 2006, pointing out this is an era of transparency.

"This is not a small matter as it involves a key national resource in Sabah É the people have a right to know.

"For example, even the so-called Floating Production Storage Offshore (FPSO) activities and contracts, which pay up to US Dollars 500,000 per day, are only undertaken by those in the know through whom you know basis.

"Who are the FPSO contractors? Are the Petronas managers also involved?

Why doesn't the Chief Minister get YS Shipping Dua, which has various licences to be involved?," he said, adding Yayasan Sabah should be given a lead role in implementing the project involving RM1.6 billion of taxpayers' money.

In a related matter, Jeffrey said if building a LNG facility in Sabah was not viable, then why is the Government, at the same time, going ahead with the gas pipeline to Bintulu and the petrochemical plant.

"Is the Federal Government giving false hopes to Tan Sri Bernard Dompok and Sabahans or can both the pipeline and petrochemical industry be implemented viably for the benefit of the State and the people?"

He said figures given by Petronas on its reserves and current production level do not indicate, in any way, the viability or otherwise of the oil and gas industry in Sabah.

"It seems Sabah is always at the losing end. We have oil but we only get five per cent royalty. We have gas but it is being piped out.

"We have an oil and gas industry but little participation in its downstream activities (and) we have substantial oil and gas reserves/deposits but are being told you only have very little.

"Yet, Petronas talks about big royalty revenue, where is the logic?

Parliament should demand for an independent consultant and get the facts right," Jeffrey said.

SAPP motions on gas rejected both places

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.

Start of a new oil-gas era: Mojigoh

Kota Kinabalu: United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Organisation (Upko) hopes the setting up of a full-fledged petrochemical industry in the State will not be Sabah's first and last venture in the oil and gas industry.

Its Putatan MP Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh said the decision by the Federal Government was a positive move that marked the beginning of a new era for the State's oil and gas industry, particularly in the downstream processing sector.

"We know there are many more projects in the oil and gas industry that can be set up in Sabah. It will help spur economic growth in tandem with the Sabah Development Corridor's (SDC) blueprint," said Mojigoh who is also the new Upko Treasurer-General.

According to him, it was not an individual call but a resolution by the party delegates who felt since the resources were from Sabah it was only apt that the people in the State also enjoy their benefits.

He said the Federal Government through the Federal Cabinet had made the right decision that only excess gas would be channeled to Bintulu.

He said he concurred with Upko President Tan Sri Bernard Dompok that the Barisan Nasional Government is sensitive to the people's needs.

Meanwhile, he said the issue of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital building's safety had been raised many times in Parliament but that the Health Ministry was taking action only now.

Nonetheless, Mojigoh commended Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai for the decision to relocate patients to the various district hospitals and at the same time plan to build a new hospital in the State Capital.

He hoped the State and Federal governments would be able to work and cooperate to ensure the plan could be carried out hopefully before the end of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP).

November 09, 2008 (Source: Daily Express)

Dompok says not in the mood of giving up

07 November, 2008(Daily Express)

Penampang: Upko President Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said he is committed to the cause of the party and the people of Sabah to see the Petronas gas pipeline project from Kimanis, Sabah to Bintulu, Sarawak, scrapped.

He said the party was unhappy with the Federal Government's decision to give Petronas the go-ahead to implement the project.

"I'm committed to articulating about this and I will be talking to the Cabinet on Friday. I want to pursue this," he told reporters after launching the Public Complaints Bureau's integrated mobile complaint counter, here, Thursday.

Pressed on whether it may mean the party would consider leaving the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition if its objection to the project is ignored by the Federal Government, he said:

"We will cross the bridge when we come to it but I want to pursue this (Kimanis-Bintulu gas pipeline)."

The RM1.5 billion facility is expected to be operational in 2011.

"What is presently proposed by Petronas is merely a landing point in Kimanis and from there, a pipeline is to be built to Bintulu to facilitate the export of gas to other countries in the form of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

"They will put it in big tankers and export it. So, what we are saying here is, the gas can be used, firstly as a feed stock for downstream activities (in Sabah) and it can also be used to generate electricity so that we can have energy security for Sabah," he said.

He said the Independent Power Producer (IPP) in Gayang, Tuaran, could guarantee electricity supply for 20 years only. "What happens after 20 years? What if that amount of gas is designated for the particular IPP?" he asked.

He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had on May 31 announced shelving the project. However, on Nov. 1, the Prime Minister said the proposed 500-km long gas pipeline from Kimanis, Sabah to Bintulu would proceed.

On Tuesday, Dompok said Upko objected to the project claiming that it would not benefit the people of Sabah.

Sabah, he said, has no activity closely linked to the oil and gas industry despite the sector one of the most important in the country.

He noted that the State's economy is dependent merely on tourism and palm oil and that it was unfair if oil and gas were not given significance in Sabah's development.

Expressing unhappiness over the matter, he was confident that the people of Sabah generally share similar sentiments as that of Upko. "The gas is most needed in Sabah to implement various development projects and to develop the State's downstream industries."

DOMPOK PUAS HATI KEPUTUSAN KABINET

KOTA KINABALU: Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Bernard Dompok (gambar) kelmarin akhirnya berpuas hati apabila Kabinet Persekutuan bersetuju untuk mewujudkan industri petrokimia di Sabah, berikutan isu pembinaan paip gas dari Kimanis ke Bintulu yang mendapat respon negatif daripada penduduk Sabah.

Dalam pada itu, kilang-kilang berkaitan gas dan petrokimia juga akan dibina untuk tujuan tersebut, katanya dalam satu kenyataan kelmarini. Dompok menambah selepas beliau membangkitkan isu itu dalam mesyuarat jemaah men-teri di Putrajaya kelmarin, keputusan yang dicapai adalah pembinaan paip gas dari Kimanis ke Bintulu akan diteruskan namun hanya lebihan gas yang akan disalurkan ke Sarawak.

"Kabinet Persekutuan kini bersetuju untuk mewujudkan industri petrokimia yang lengkap sepenuhnya di Sabah menggunakan gas dan minyak dari Sabah. "Saya bagi pihak Upko dan rakyat Sabah mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Kerajaan Persekutuan di atas keprihatinan ini," kata Dom-pok yang juga presiden Upko.

Katanya ketetapan tersebut pasti mempelbagaikan lagi aktiviti ekonomi Sabah dan pembinaan kilang untuk industri petrokimia itu bakal menyuntik semangat dan menjadi pemangkin kepada Koridor Pembangunan Sabah.

"Akhirnya, Sabah, salah satu daripada hanya tiga negeri pengeluar minyak dan gas di Malay-sia kita ini boleh turut serta aktif dalam aktiviti hiliran industri gas dan minyak.

"Pembinaan serentak kilang petrokimia dan paip gas mampu membantu Sabah, yang selama ini ketinggalan dari segi pembangunan terutama industri gas dan minyak, untuk terus maju dan menikmati arus perdana pembangunan negara," tambah beliau.

PKR dares Upko to leave the BN

Kota Kinabalu: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) on Wednesday dared Upko President Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, to give meaning to his words rather than beat about the bush every time the party is bullied and isolated by Barisan Nasional (BN).

PKR State Liaison Deputy Chairman, Daniel John Jambun, said Dompok and Upko were so openly dissatisfied with BN's ways of handling Sabah and Sarawak matters, and yet they just sulk each time they are told to leave.

"Quit BN, don't just threaten, you have been bullied time and again. You have been forever airing your dissatisfactions of not being heard by BN, but why do you continue to stay with those who are bullying you?" he asked.

Daniel said if Dompok and Upko honestly feel that they are not heard or respected enough on Sabah matters, they should know what to do by now, that is to leave BN just like what SAPP did.

"Look, remember when you (Upko) were speaking up for the Kadazan people in Kg Maang, Penampang, you were bluntly told by Umno leaders to leave BN.

"If Dompok really fights for the people of Sabah, as he claimed, he should leave Umno-led BN tomorrow. If not, the people could read that Dompok and his Upko merely followed Umno's wish, and not the people's wishÉ" he said, adding that Upko coalescing and collaborating with Umno would eventually erode any confidence in that party.

- Daily Express, November 6, 2008

Upko Youth takes Masidi to task

Penampang: Upko Youth has expressed disappointment with Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun who described the party's stand on the Federal Government and Petronas decision to proceed with the Kimanis-Bintulu gas pipeline as childish, emotional and merely making noises.

"Upko Youth wing is shocked with the statement from a leader like him, especially as a Sabah Cabinet member," said its Information Chief, Monih Epin.

Monih in a statement, Wednesday, said as a leader Masidi should be more concerned and sensitive to the Sabah people's need apart from remembering that the Barisan Nasional would face the people again in 2012.

He underlined five factors for Upko Youth to make a strong stand on the matter, namely, leadership integrity, low oil royalty, development of oil and gas industry in Sabah as catalyst to the State's economic growth and lackadaisical attitude of Petronas to develop the industry in Sabah.

"This is a major issue for Sabah and it will influence support for the BN in the next General Election.

Based on this principle and factor we in Upko Youth call for the Kimanis-Bintulu gas pipeline to be scrapped," he said.

-Daily Express, November 6, 2008