Wang ehsan.. My foot!
1. Finally, the Federal government acknowledges that there is a validity of the agreement signed between the State government and Petronas where the later is supposed to pay 5% oil revenue to the State if oil is found with its boundaries. The latest act of the federal government willing to give “Wang Ehsan” to the people of Kelantan, further reinforced that there is oil within Kelantan borders.
2. It is beyond reasonable doubt that there was oil in Kelantan for a long time and for that reason Tengku Razaleigh signs the contract with the Kelantan government in 1975. All this while, the oil was probably being sucked out sideways pipe from Terengganu borders. Petronas would not have sign an agreement with a state that has no oil.
3. Like what Mahathir is doing in Terengganu when PAS won the state during the previous GE, the money which is owned by the state government was illegally taken away from them and managed federally. Terengganu government under PAS sues the Federal Government and Petronas then and as usual, the case received no priority and it queued along with small theft case until the government was change and the case was withdrawn by the government. It was relabeled as wang ehsan then and Najib is now using the same term for it for the oil money in Kelantan.
4. Anyone that is familiar with contract laws can clearly identify that the agreement is between Petronas and the State Government. The Federal government is not a direct party to it and has no direct locus in intervening in the matter. Petronas management and its board is obviously too weak to stand up and do the right thing.
5. The way I see it, during that 5 years, Terengganu was under PAS, the Federal government spent money in the state by upgrading schools, clinics and various other federal related agencies. Indris Jusoh Enterprise benefitted largely from it. The money that was spent came from the Federal coffers. It did not come from Petronas. In other words, Petronas still owe the Terengganu State government substantial amount of money.
