00:00Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Sarawak, which is now a high-income state,
00:07should support the development of less developed Malaysian states.
00:11Sarawak by itself is already making a lot of money. Its budget is $11 billion,
00:18which is very high compared to, say, Kedah. Kedah's budget is only $700 million.
00:26Initially, of course, both Sarawak and Sabah were poor and the federal government had to support
00:32them. But now, of course, they have become rich and it is time that they support the other poor
00:40countries also, poor states. Over the last decade, Sarawak's fortunes have risen significantly,
00:47with a substantial portion of its revenue in 2023 attributable to its takings in the
00:53oil and gas sector. In that year alone, Sarawak earned 2.8 billion ringgit from royalties under
01:00the Petroleum Development Act 1974, and with the added sales tax on its ONG output,
01:05the state secured an extra 3.4 billion ringgit. Former Finance Minister Tengku Razali Hamzah
01:12recalled that in Malaysia's early years, all 13 states had limited resources,
01:18prompting the decision to pool resources for the nation's benefit.
01:22The Petroleum Development Act was introduced as a result, under which Petronas was established
01:27and given sole rights to all ONG within Malaysia's onshore and offshore territories.
01:34With the resources available, we could have a start, a new beginning. We could really make use
01:45of the oil wealth for the building up of the country, let it grow together and let people
01:52benefit. The law's enactment and Petronas' formation marked a shift toward the nationalization
01:58of oil resources with a state revenue sharing agreement. And it became what it is because it's
02:05Raman Yacob who proposed. Tengku Razali said this formula ensured equal payment for all states,
02:12providing each oil-producing state with 5% of its oil's value, as agreed by all state governments
02:18and the federal cabinet. However, several states have since pushed for a larger share of oil
02:23royalties, with Sarawak seeking to transfer some ONG authority and revenue from Petronas
02:29to its state-owned Petros. Natasha Bust, FMT News.
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