They also called on Putrajaya to disclose the figures for the volume of oil produced in Kelantan, as well as the equivalent royalties which are currently set at 5% of the total value of oil production.

Kubang Kerian MP Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, representing the group, said the state had yet to receive a single sen from the federal government.

“We do not recognise the compassionate payments as a replacement for the oil royalty,” the PAS deputy president told reporters in a press conference at the Parliament lobby here.

He also questioned the point of recognising Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan and Terengganu as poor states if the government refrains from making the payments.

Bunut Payong assemblyman and PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said he believed Petronas had already given the government the figures for Kelantan’s oil production.

“Now we are asking the federal government to disclose the formula it used to get RM28 million,” he said, referring to the total amount of payments made to the state government so far.

He also said it was possible for Kelantan to slap Petronas with a fresh suit over the matter.

Yesterday, Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said Kelantan had received RM28 million in compassionate funds from the government this year.

He said the government had used the term “compassionate payments” or “wang ehsan” since the time of the Barisan Nasional administration.

“The finance ministry letter also mentions the term, so how can we change the (compassionate payments) term to oil royalty payments?” he said, adding that this was Kelantan’s right.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng earlier said his ministry had made advance payments for the oil royalty in September. He also said he did not wish to debate on the terms used for the payments from the federal government.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yaakob acknowledged receiving RM15.75 million in September, but said these were compassionate payments, not oil royalty payments.

Pengkalan Chepa MP Ahmad Marzuk Shaary said it was not a matter of which terms were used, but rather of the figures paid.

He cited oil production figures which he said were from “trusted sources”, based on which he said the state government should be paid an average of RM1 billion a year.

“To this day, MPs from Kelantan have urged the government to disclose Petronas documents on the amount of oil production from Kelantan,” he added.