Oil royalty: Kelantan appoints Ku Li as rep

KOTA BARU: The PAS-led Kelantan government has decided to appoint former Petronas chairman Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as the state government’s representative in discussions on the oil royalty with the Federal Government.
Chairman of the State Committee on Financial Planning, Economy and Welfare Datuk Husam Musa said the decision was made at the state executive council (exco) meeting chaired by Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat on Wednesday.
He said the meeting also decided that Tengku Razaleigh, who is also the Member of Parliament for Gua Musang, would be asked to resolve the issue on the claim within four months beginning Wednesday.
“The official letter on the appointment will be sent to Tengku Razaleigh in the near future,” he told reporters after the exco meeting.
The Kelantan state government insists that the Federal Government paid the oil royalty instead of the compassionate payment.
The Federal Government has claimed that according to regulations, the state was not eligible for the royalty as the two oil wells which the Kelantan government claimed belonged to it, were located more than three nautical miles off the state’s coastal waters.
The two oil wells are located 150 nautical miles off Kelantan waters and the Federal Government had agreed to pay a RM20mil compassionate fund to the people of Kelantan, which represented the first payment of 5% of the revenue from the two oil wells since 2008.
Husam said Tengku Razaleigh’s appointment did not involve any payment from the state government.
Asked whether the Umno veteran leader accepted the appointment, Husam, who is also the State Assemblyman for Salor, said the appointment was based on Tengku Razaleigh’s agreement to be the mediator in resolving the oil royalty issue which had been dragging on between the state and federal governments. -- Bernama

tunku : till now kuli has not accepted the appointment.as an umno leader he should not accept the appoinment made by the opposition party /pas led government.if he aceept it then he should quit Umno.hope kuli knows what to do.