Taken from Bernama, dateline 2010-03-11:
KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 (Bernama) — Kelantan is not entitled to claim oil royalty outside its territorial waters because the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 1969 is still enforced, said a law practitioner.
Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun said provision No.7 of the Ordinance stipulated that the state’s boundary which is the state’s land mass and its territorial waters stretched three nautical miles measured from the low-tide water mark.
However, two oil wells disputed by the Kelantan state government are located outside the ‘area’.
“To my knowledge, the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 1969 is still in force and has not been abolished by the government. In fact, there are Ordinances formulated at that time, such as ESCAR (Essential (Security Cases) Regulations 1975), which are still in force,” he said when contacted by BERNAMA, here Thursday.
He was commenting on the statement by former Sarawak chief minister Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub, who supported the stand of the Federal Government that the State Government was not entitled to claim the oil royalty unless it could prove that the state’s territorial waters exceeded three nautical miles.
And here’s more fuel to the fire.
Wata - Malaysian Oil and Gas Engineer 