KUALA TERENGGANU: Pas-led Terengganu government will form a special committee comprising state assemblymen from the ruling government and the opposition to tackle issues related to oil royalty.
Menteri Besar Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said the committee, to be established by the year’s end, was an additional initiative by the state government.
“Representatives from both political divides will discuss the best options and initiatives in claiming the oil royalty from (the federal government in) Putrajaya.
“We already have an initiative in place to claim RM300 million but we have to be more forceful, but not offensive, in a nice way.
“To me, the issue between the state and federal governments, as well as with other state governments, has to be settled on the negotiating table,” he said during the debate on ‘Budget 2019’ at the 14the state legislative assembly sitting at Wisma Darul Iman.
He said he was elated that his proposal to set up the special committee obtained support from two previous Barisan Nasional menteris besar - Datuk Seri Ahmad Said and Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman.
While Ahmad openly expressed his support, Ahmad Razif urged the new state government to be more aggressive in its claim on the oil and gas royalty.