Malaysia Insider | GEGAR 75,000 Kelantanese and More Gathered for Oil Royalty

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75,000 Kelantanese and More Gathered for Oil Royalty

Gua Musang MP and UMNO chief Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said last night that Kelantan is entitled for RM2 Billion worth of royalty from the oil extracted off its waters. He who is also of Kelantan royalty bloodlines (uncle to Sultan of Kelantan) and ex-chairman for Petronas, also argued why Kelantan’s royalty was not paid whereas Sabah and Sarawak got their shares. Earlier, Ku Li said that it is also the intention and with the blessing of Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Al-Sultan Ismail Petra ibni Almarhum Al-Sultan Yahya Petra and the Crown Prince that he shall be fully transparent and speak only the truth about the state rights to get the 5% royalty.

The PAS government had demanded the oil royalty payment from Petronas last year, after the Statistics Department revealed that Kelantan, together with Sabah and Terengganu, had contributed 62.5 per cent of the oil extracted in Malaysia.

The Barisan Nasional-ruled federal government has insisted oil from the joint development area with Thailand was not from part of Kelantan’s waters and has only offered RM20 million as “compassionate payment”.

But Razaleigh, the founding chairman of Petronas, disagreed with the government’s move, saying the formula for oil royalty was first agreed with Sarawak and later extended to all states.

An estimated 75,000 Kelantanese gathered at Stadium Sultan Mohamad IV last night to show solidarity against PM Najib Tun Razak refusal to let the Kelantan PAS state government manage the royalty money on its own. The UMNO led federal government has instead converted the owed petroleum royalty into compassionate money (Wang Ehsan) that will be handled unlawfully by Kelantan’s opposition UMNO and federal entity Jabatan Pentadbiran Persekutuan. In recent 2008 state election, PAS won 38 seats in contrast to UMNO only winning 6 seats. Allowing the minority electives the control of the royalty money is not only unconstitutional but also against the mandate of the Kelantanese.

A memorandum concerning Kelantan’s demand for the petroleum royalty was circulated for the crowd’s signatures and will be submitted to acting Sultan of Kelantan, the Crown Prince Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Last night congregation began with the dusk prayer (Maghrib) led by Kelantan Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Ahmad Yakob, followed by Night prayer (Isya’) by Ustaz Mohamed Mustafa as imam and lastly a wish prayer led by Chief Minister Tuan Guru Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

Editor’s note: All the nice pictures belong to TopengPerak Unmasked. All rights reserves.