KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem has pledged to the people that he would continue pushing the request for 20 per cent oil and gas (O&G) royalties with Putrajaya.
The call for the royalty hike was unanimously agreed upon in the August House during the State Legislative Assembly sitting last April.
He said the state government would not stop trying even as the federal side had yet to give its greenlight as the new year approached.
“I will ask for the increase in oil and gas royalties, so give me five more years,” he said when addressing a crowd of 15,000 people coming for the countdown at Tun Salahuddin Bridge here on New Year’s Eve.
Adenan pointed out that there would be many more things that he could accomplish for Sarawakians, adding that the state should look forward to ‘the biggest single project – Pan Borneo Highway’, aimed at taking Sarawak to a whole new level.
He acknowledged that in terms of infrastructure development, Sarawak had been lagging behind other states in Peninsular Malaysia.
“We do not want to be left behind – nor do we want to wait for another 50 years. Some of us could be gone by then.
“So you do what you can, and do it quickly.”
The chief minister also reminded Sarawakians against being influenced by peninsula-based politics, stressing that Umno itself had agreed not to spread its wings into the state.
“Umno is peninsula-based, and its president (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) has given his word that the party would not enter Sarawak,” he said, adding that Sarawak would not require DAP, PAS and PKR – all peninsula-based political parties.
“We know Sarawak better than anybody else – we can manage our own state within Malaysia,” Adenan said in his remarks made during the New Year countdown at Tun Salahuddin Bridge here, which also commemorated the cessation of toll collection there effective yesterday.
Earlier, the spectators witnessed a multimedia presentation of recorded messages by state leaders such as Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, Infrastructure Development and Communication Minister Dato Sri Michael Manyin and Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, as well as some members of the public.
Generally, the gist of these messages was on the abolishment of toll charges which had not just brought joy to the community at large, but also helped enhance closer rapport among people of city’s south and north zones.
A Kuchingite who was featured in the presentation, said: “Now, I can visit my friends in Petra Jaya more often.”
The display concluded with State Secretary Datuk Amar Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani extending the state government’s gratitude to Zecon Toll Concessionaire Sdn Bhd before going on to wish everyone a ‘Happy New Year’.
The countdown culminated in a spectacular 10-minute fireworks display.-Borneo Post
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