PR PLEDGE SET SPECIAL PETRO FUND FOR OIL REVENUE STATES & MORE AUTONOMY FOR SABAH & SARAWAK

PR pledges to set up fund to divvy oil revenue to states

ALOR STAR, Jan 14 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will set up a special petroleum fund to ensure a more equitable portion of oil revenue from Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak is given back to the states.

DAP Youth chief Anthony Loke said the fund would help “stabilise” revenue and expenditure in the oil-producing states even as Malaysia’s reserves continue to dwindle.

“The special fund will be similar to Kumpulan Wang Amanah Nasional (KWAN) but will be under the control of the state governments,” he told the PR convention here.

Currently, a percentage of federal oil revenue goes to KWAN, which was started in the 1980s.

Kelantan executive councillor Datuk Husam Musa (picture)said earlier that the state government would use part of this new oil revenue to absorb all higher education loans undertaken since 2005.

“Oil royalty will be paid and all PTPTN loans will be absorbed,” the PAS vice-president had said.

Sabah and Sarawak will also be given greater autonomy under opposition rule, in line with the special position of the two east Malaysian states, Loke said.

He stressed that the opposition pact will give both states a freer hand in deciding on local issues, especially in education and public services.

The same expansion of rights and duties would apply to other states as well, the Rasah MP added.

“Pakatan Rakyat will allocate federal power to states in matters that fall under state and local jurisdictions...”

“The state governments chosen by the people should be respected by the federal government,” Loke said.