Chief Minister Shafie Apdal said he would request the state attorney-general (AG) to look into the matter.
“We are looking into it but I was made to understand by the former AG that we do have that mineral enactment in Sabah. I will ask the (current) AG to look into the details, whether there’s any loopholes in that.
“If it’s in there, then we just need to reactivate that to ensure Sabah, just like Sarawak, have the power,” he said after closing a Malaysia Day forum organised by Upko here today.
The Parti Warisan Sabah president also said laws on oil and gas exploration and mining activities could be embedded in the state’s present land ordinance.
Earlier, Upko acting president Wilfred Madius Tangau, in his welcoming speech, said establishing the state as the regulator for oil and gas activities was one of the ways to enforce the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
The deputy chief minister noted Sabah needs to strengthen its position as the regulator for such matters in its own backyard.
“We know Sarawak has done that with its Oil Mining Ordinance. (Through the law) whoever wants to do oil and gas activities has to secure a licence from the Sarawak government,” he said.
He added that Petronas was concerned which law governed oil and gas exploration matters, whether it was the Petroluem Development Act 1974 or Sarawak’s Oil Mining Ordinance.
“I think that’s the reason that prompted Petronas to go into litigation… the Sarawak government won the first round,” Tangau said.
“Similarly for us, our power is within the land ordinance, if I’m not mistaken in Section 24, but we can strengthen our own position like how Sarawak has done.”
Meanwhile, Shafie said the state government would conduct studies in three areas in Sabah namely Papar, Tambunan and Kota Belud for the construction of a dam to ensure the state would have adequate water supply for the next 50 years.
He acknowledged the objection raised against the proposed dam in Kaiduan, Papar, and said this was the reason for the studies being held in the other areas.
“There are 1,000 people objecting to the Kaiduan dam but when there is no water for KK in future, I think there will be 500,000 people protesting then. That is why we need to resolve this issue effectively,” he said.