“I am aware that some people in Peninsular Malaysia are jealous of Sarawak’s current progress,” he was quoted as saying in a report by The Dayak Daily.
He said Sarawakians must remain vigilant against those who want to disrupt the state’s economic progress, noting that there were already indications of such intentions.
“In GPS, we can distinguish between which is the glass and which is the diamond. Our intention is (to work) for the benefit of the people, and there is much more we need to accomplish,” he was quoted as saying.
He said he was informed by his deputy Douglas Uggah Embas who attended a national financial council meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, that Sarawak’s revenue collection was the highest among all the states for last year.
It was previously reported that Sarawak achieved a record-breaking RM13.1 billion in revenue in 2023, beating its record of RM11.9 billion the year before.
In April, Abang Johari said the state had set its sights on becoming the nation’s second-highest contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP) before the next state polls.
Abang Johari also attributed Sarawak’s progress to hard work rather than mere luck.
“Don’t be jealous when Sarawak makes RM13 billion in revenue. That’s all hard work by our leaders,” he said.
“It is not easy to build bridges with many projects previously cancelled, but I see it as a challenge. We did not depend on others but found our own money to fund all of it at a cost of RM12 billion.”
Sarawak didn’t infringe on Petronas’s rights
Abang Johari also rejected claims that Sarawak wanted to control the oil and gas sector, which could adversely affect the nation.
Dismissing such allegations, he said Sarawak possessed its own oil and gas rights under state laws, namely the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 which predates Malaysia’s formation and has never been repealed.
“We have also passed the Distribution of Gas Ordinance 2016 and appointed Petros (state-owned Petroleum Sarawak Bhd) as the gas aggregator,” he said.
“So we have not taken (away any of) Petronas’s rights under the Petroleum Development Act.”