SETIU – The Terengganu government hopes that the special federal government fund (DKKP) received from the previous administration will be continued by the unity government.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said the state government would discuss the matter with the Finance Ministry (MoF) and seek an explanation whether the previous DKKP distribution to Terengganu was petroleum royalty payments or vice versa.
“The question of whether DKKP is a royalty payment will be referred to MoF. The term royalty money was mentioned by the finance minister and the law minister in 2021, but the payment received never mentioned the term royalty, only DKKP,” he said.
He said this to reporters after closing the 2023 Terengganu Food Production Carnival in Sg Tarom, here yesterday.
He was commenting on the statement of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said in the Dewan Rakyat who said that Kelantan and Terengganu do not qualify for the 5% petroleum revenue payments.
Azalina said this is because the Territorial Sea Act 2012 stipulates that states can only claim rights up to three nautical miles, and Petronas has never channelled petroleum revenue directly to Kelantan and Terengganu thus far because the extraction points are beyond the three nautical mile limit.
She was reported to have said this in her reply to a question from Pagoh MP Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh-PN), who asked if the current government will channel oil revenue directly to the Kelantan and Terengganu governments, similar to what was done by the Perikatan Nasional government.
In another development, Ahmad Samsuri announced the exemption of special licence fees for 2,000 small-scale fishermen in Terengganu this year.
“It is one of the state government’s appreciation to the fishermen who supply food to the people of this state,” he said. – Bernama, February 26, 2023
