UNBRIDLED joy swept across Sarawak today after the federal court dismissed national oil company Petronas’ application to proceed with its legal bid to claim full regulatory control of oil-and-gas exploration and mining nationwide.

Petronas was seeking exclusive ownership of all petroleum resources in the country, including in Sarawak.

Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg took to Facebook almost immediately, giving thanks to God and to the state’s legal team for the outcome.

“Syukur Alhamdullilah. Sarawakians have just won in court today. Thank you so much to our legal team and let us pray for the best in moving forward,” Abang Johari wrote.

The Sarawak legal team was headed by state Attorney-General Talat Mahmood, special legal counsel to the state government J.C. Fong, and deputy attorney-generals Saferi Ali and Mohd Adzrul Adzlan.

State Assistant Minister for Law and State-Federal Relations Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said the ruling was a victory for the rule of law, but said that Sarawak still wanted to work with Petronas for the good of the state and the country.

“What we want is the good for everyone, including Petronas,” she said.

But, she added, “we will continue to defend our rights”.

Hundreds of ordinary Sarawakians also took to social media to share their joy at the outcome of the bid.

Facebook user Masyaddy Awang Zawawi said that the state could now reap the benefits of its oil revenue.

“Alhamdulillah… Tahniah… Tunggu dan lihat gik tindakan seterusnya dari Sarawak berapa hasil minyak boleh dapat,” he wrote.

(“Congratulations…let’s wait and see for follow-up action from Sarawak, how much we can get from the oil revenue”).

However, Lina Soo, rights activist and president of the political party STAR, was cautious in her celebration of the ruling, saying that the federal court victory was only “round one to Sarawak”, adding that there could be “a long struggle” to reclaim the state’s past oil revenue and other rights.

While she congratulated the Sarawak government on the “victory for the people”, Soo also asked the state’s finance minister to prepare a bill and collect the outstanding mining and related fees from Petronas.

Soo said Petronas had not been paying mining and related fees to Sarawak for the last 42 years and believes that the arrears accumulated could have reached one trillion US dollars (RM4 trillion).

“Sarawak will (finally) have the means to finance the Pan Borneo highway and provide water, electricity, and healthcare to our rural population,” she said. – June 22, 2018.