‘Kelantan owed RM1b royalty’

(NST) KOTA BARU: The Federal Government owes Kelantan RM1 billion in petroleum royalty from the exploration of oil and gas in state waters since 2004, claimed state executive councillor Datuk Husam Musa.

Husam, who is the chairman of the state Economic Planning, Finance and Welfare Committee, said based on data released by the Statistics Department, Kelantan had been listed as a petroleum producer together with Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu since 2004.

"The menteri besar will be writing officially to the prime minister to ask the Federal Government to pay the royalty and the sum backdated since 2004 is RM1 billion," he said after the state exco meeting here yesterday.

Asked why the state government was only asking for it now, Husam said they had only received the information at a meeting at the Prime Minister's Department in March when the details were distributed to its officers.

Husam said petroleum production in the state was about RM2.615 billion in 2006 and rose to RM2.7 billion last year.

He said the information could be obtained in bulletins produced by the department, including the bulletin for states and districts for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 dan 2009.

"I am confident that with the 1Malaysia concept propagated by the prime minister, there will not be a problem for the Federal Government to pay royalty to the state."