KUCHING: Sarawak's claim to oil and gas resources in its continental shelf is based on state laws and the Federal Constitution, says Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chief whip Datuk Ibrahim Baki.
The Satok assemblyman said the state Oil Mining Ordinance 1958, which regulates oil mining in Sarawak, had never been repealed and was still in force.
He also said the Federal Constitution provided that mining leases and certificates come under the legislative authority of the state, as this item was listed in the state list of the ninth schedule.
"Therefore, Sarawak has the legislative and executive authority over the issuance of mining leases and certificates to regulate oil mining, including in the continental shelf," he said when debating the 2025 state Budget in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly on Friday (Nov 15).
Ibrahim also refuted former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim's opinion that the Batu Puteh ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) would affect Sarawak's claims over oil and gas resources located in its continental shelf.
Zaid had said that Sarawak's actions, such as not disputing the legality of the Continental Shelf Act and Petroleum Development Act, may amount to consent or implied acquiescence to PETRONAS assuming ownership and control of all oil and gas resources on- and offshore.
He had said this principle of exercising actual authority over a territory as opposed to merely making a legal claim was used by the ICJ to rule in Singapore's favour in the Batu Puteh dispute.
To this, Ibrahim said Sarawak's claim to the continental shelf was not a dispute between sovereign states and therefore the principles of international law could not apply.
Instead, he said the issue should be decided based on domestic laws, including the Federal Constitution.
"In any event, Sarawak never relinquished her rights over the seabed and the subsoils forming the continental shelf.
"These areas are state land and the state even has declared a marine park over some of the areas offshore Sarawak," he said.
