Not true Sabah O&G made collateral
Published on: Thursday, November 09, 2017
Abdul Rahman described claims that Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Razak had collateralised oil and gas blocks off Sabah to the Chinese for a loan of RM100 billion as a total and blatant lie. He said this in reference to a message which started making its rounds over social media Tuesday afternoon, purportedly to warn Sabahans, Sabah MPs and ADUNs with regard to the Trans Sabah Gas Pipeline (TSGP) project. The message alleged that the Prime Minister has collateralised oil and gas blocks off Sabah to the Chinese for a loan of RM100 billion."This is a total and blatant lie perpetrated by irresponsible party who would benefit from people's anger and mistrust towards the federal and state governments.
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"I want to announce here that the TSGP is important for Sabahans, industries and non-industries using gas as fuel. "All this while we have asked for Sabah gas to be used for industry and the people of Sabah, thus we build TSGP from Kimanis to Kota Kinabalu and from there to Tuaran, Kota Belud, Kota Marudu and then to Sandakan and Tawau. "This is our way for the future, to be able to use gas as fuel for the energy and non-energy sectors, and this is one of the ways for us to keep the environment and so on. The question of mortgaging Sabah oil is not true," he said. "To set the record straight, the owner-cum-developer of the TSGP is the Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd (SSER) a company wholly owned by the Malaysia's Ministry of Finance while The China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPP) is the project's engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contractor.
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"While the project will be funded by a soft loan from the Export and Import (EXIM) Bank of China, there's no truth in the allegations that the loan amount would be RM100 billion and oil and gas blocks off Sabah were collaterised to China in order to secure the loan," he said. He said the loan amount would be RM4.53 billion which constitutes the total cost of the project and it would be guaranteed by the Federal Government.
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"With the guarantee in place, there's no need for SSER to collateralise any Malaysian oil and gas block to the Chinese."Land matter is strictly under state jurisdiction. Without engagement and cooperation between the State Government and the Federal Government, the project could not proceed which debunks the claim that the state government is not consulted and involved in this project."Materials, equipment and labour to build the pipeline is sourced from local and foreign similar to other infrastructure projects such as the MRT and ECRL."With this key energy infrastructure project, Sabah will be able to move up the value chain and add value to local commodities and raw materials, thus reducing state's dependency on primary industries and creating employment for the people throughout the state and increase their income levels," he said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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