SARAWAK PKR leader Iswardy Morni claims the federal government’s decision to grant gas distribution rights to Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 has directly triggered the recent layoff of 5,000 Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) workers.
He argued that the move was made to fulfil political demands rather than serve national interest and warns it could jeopardise Petronas’ long-term stability.
“Petronas is not only struggling in terms of operations and revenue, but it has also been forced to let go of thousands of workers.
“We are expected to simply accept a decision that, at its core, stems from political blackmail – If we don’t get it, we’ll jump (parties),” he said in a statement, without naming any specific political party.
Citing Petronas CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik’s recent warning that the company could shut down in a decade without restructuring, Iswardy criticised Sarawak’s political leadership for what he views as short-sightedness in their resource demands.
“Although he (Tengku Muhammad Taufik) tried to ‘play politics’ by denying any link between the granting of gas distribution rights to Sarawak and Petronas’ internal crisis, we don’t need to be geniuses to see the signals of what’s really happening,” he added.
He directed strong criticism at Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which has backed the takeover of gas distribution rights from the federal government.
“Congratulations on killing your own golden goose, GPS,” he said.
The dispute stems from the 2017 formation of Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros), a state-owned company set up to manage Sarawak’s petroleum and natural gas resources.
This move created overlapping authority with Petronas, which has long held exclusive control under the Petroleum Development Act 1974, sparking ongoing federal-state tensions over control of oil and gas resources.
