It is up to the state government to ensure that its resources stay in Sabah and no gas is transported to Sarawak through the Kimanis-Bintulu gas pipeline project, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.
Dompok reiterated that under former prime minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's leadership, the federal government had agreed that the pipeline project be continued with Sabah given priority if the State required the resource.
"There is a guarantee that no gas will be channeled to Bintulu through the pipeline if there is a need for gas in Sabah. Abdullah said this assurance came from Petronas itself," he said when launching the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) Zone C Convention here, Sunday.
Recently, Luyang State Assemblywoman Melanie Chia had said the state government should not have agreed to or allowed Petronas to siphon the natural gas from offshore of Sabah to Bintulu in the first place, if it was really serious about developing the local oil and gas industries.
For the same token, Petronas should not have even thought of such a plan let alone pushed for it despite strong objection from the people of Sabah, added Chia.
State Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah had stated that Petronas would only agree to let Sabah keep a portion of the gas channeled to the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis, if it was able to substantially build up its infrastructure and manpower to support the oil and gas industry in Sabah.
Chia urged Tan, who is also a Gerakan vice-president, to convince his party president cum Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to convince the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to instruct Petronas to stop the Kimanis-Bintulu gas pipeline project.
"If the state government can ensure all the gas resources are utilized in Sabah, then there is no need to channel them to Bintulu," Dompok said.
-- BERNAMA
