Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon said Morshidi was not fit to represent and safeguard the rights of Sarawak in Petronas.
“He has not performed his duty as a board member representing Sarawak and has betrayed Sarawakians in our claim for autonomy and the right to our petroleum assets,” he said in a statement.
Ting also questioned Morshidi’s claim that he had not known of an emergency Petronas board meeting where it was decided to file a court application seeking a declaration that Petronas had ownership of all oil and gas resources, including in Sarawak, by virtue of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA).
Ting said the court action by Petronas was “very detrimental” to Sarawak, adding that Morshidi had been nominated to the board of directors of Petronas by the late chief minister Adenan Satem to safeguard the petroleum rights of the state.
“It is paramount that his single purpose in Petronas is to make certain that all adverse or negative affects to Sarawak are reported to Sarawakians,” he said.
He also said the court action by Petronas was a reaction to the Sarawak government’s unilateral public claim to petroleum rights from July 1, although Petronas had been extracting petroleum from Sarawak’s seabed for nearly half a century.
Calling for a negotiated settlement of the issue, Ting said it was clear that Morshidi was “not telling the whole truth when he said earlier that the court challenge by Petronas was not tabled in any Petronas board meeting”.
In a statement yesterday, Petronas said an urgent board meeting was called on May 31, but Morshidi had not attended as he was overseas.
Ting said in this age of communication, Morshidi’s claim that he was not aware of the emergency meeting was “unbelievable” and “unacceptable”.
“We are now in the digital age, not the Stone Age. For a person like the state secretary of Sarawak, who is holding the most important portfolio in the state, to claim he was not contactable as he was overseas performing his religious obligations is not satisfactory.”
Petronas seeks court declaration on ownership of petroleum resources