Baru Bian
KUCHING (Jan 29): Sarawak has never relinquished its original jurisdiction over oil and gas resources, and the absence of explicit provisions on the matter in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) should not be interpreted as a surrender of those rights, said Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) vice-president Baru Bian.
Responding to a recent statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Baru disagreed with the assertion that MA63 contains “nothing” on oil and gas ownership and regulation.
While acknowledging that MA63 does not expressly spell out oil and gas ownership, he stressed that constitutional interpretation should not be confined to literal wording alone, but must consider historical context, pre-Malaysia laws and Sarawak’s legal position prior to the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
“Before Sept 16,1963, Sarawak was a self-governing territory with clear jurisdiction over its land and natural resources. This included petroleum resources, which were regulated under laws such as the Sarawak Mining Ordinance and related legislation in force prior to Malaysia’s formation.
“There was no surrender or transfer of oil and gas ownership or regulatory authority to the federation in MA63 or its accompanying instruments. Under constitutional principles, powers not expressly ceded remain with the original authority,” he said in a statement today.
Baru also stressed that MA63 must be read with the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report.
“The IGC Report, which forms the backbone of MA63, consistently affirms that Borneo States were to retain control over land and natural resources. Oil and gas, being resources beneath land and territorial waters, fall squarely within this domain unless expressly transferred—which they were not,” he added.
He further argued that the enactment of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 itself indicated that petroleum jurisdiction did not originally lie with the federal government.
“If the federal government already possessed inherent constitutional jurisdiction over petroleum resources, there would have been no need for Parliament to enact a law to vest ownership in Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Berhad),” he said, adding that legislation is enacted to create or acquire authority that did not previously exist.
Baru said MA63 should be interpreted as a foundational constitutional compact, requiring a historical and purposive reading that reflects the intentions of the parties at the time of Malaysia’s formation.
He emphasised that Sarawak’s position on oil and gas was not about political confrontation or undermining national unity, but about respecting constitutional guarantees and the principles upon which the federation was formed.
“The assertion that MA63 is irrelevant to oil and gas because it is silent on the matter oversimplifies a complex constitutional reality. Silence does not mean surrender,” he said
Sarawak’s position, he added, is grounded in law, history and constitutional principle, and warrants serious engagement rather than dismissal based on a narrow textual interpretation.
“A mature federation must be willing to confront these truths honestly, in the spirit of MA63 and genuine federalism,” he stressed.
The post Baru Bian: Silence in MA63 does not mean Sarawak surrendered oil and gas rights appeared first on Borneo Post Online.
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