Kelantan to get oil royalty after state govt completes withdrawal of suit, says Azmin

Putrajaya will pay oil royalty to Kelantan after the state government has withdrawn its lawsuit against Petronas, Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali said.

(FMT) – He said the state government had begun the withdrawal proceedings, which were expected to be settled next month.

“After the proceedings are settled, we will execute what we have promised by making the payment (of oil royalty) directly to the state government,” he said after delivering a talk at the Ministerial Talk Series Programme at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) here today.

Azmin said the government had made its oil royalty payment for 2018 to Terengganu while Kelantan only received part of the payment because of the legal dispute.

The Kelantan government filed the lawsuit against Petronas over the oil royalty in 2011 and began the proceedings to withdraw the suit in October last year.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakub renewed the claim for oil royalty with the federal government on Jan 14 at a meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Putrajaya.

On another matter, Azmin, who is also the chairman of the Kelantan State Action Council, gave an assurance that he would pay attention to the development of Kelantan to improve the socio-economic status of the people.

He said UKM, which specialises in entrepreneurship, has huge potential as an incubator for entrepreneurs who would become the basis for the economic upliftment of the people of the state.

Also present at the event were Deputy Economic Affairs Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin and UMK vice-chancellor Prof Noor Azizi Ismail.