Ditch Putrajaya oil royalty committee, Kelantan told

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)'s Kelantan arm has demanded that the Kelantan state government pull out from a special committee set up by the federal government to address oil royalty payments to the state.

PSM Kelantan chief Khairul Nizam Abd Ghani in a statement today said staying in the committee is not helping NGOs efforts to pressure Putrajaya on the long-drawn issue.

Khairul pointed out that although the committee is nearing its second anniversary on August 4, the government has not kept its promise to come out with a decision regarding oil royalty within six months of its formation.

"Almost two years has passed and PSM finds that Kelantan's participation in this committee is affecting the movement to demand royalty payments in other ways," Khairul said in a statement.

He was referring to the large-scale movement in Kelantan to demand for oil royalties, led by the NGO Royalti Kelantan.

Currently, the opposition-led Kelantan state government does not get any oil royalty payment, which was cut off when PAS won the state in 1990.

The supposed 5 percent fixed oil royalty that the federal government claims it is paying Kelantan is instead paid as "wang ehsan" through various federal government agencies.

Efforts 'frozen' by committee

Khairul said that there is now a "conflict" with "other methods" of demanding additional royalty from the government.

"PSM does not want the dignity of the Kelantan people be frozen in a uncertain mechanism," he said.

The committee was announced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in August 2012 to address Kelantan's pressure for a greater cut of the earnings from the state's oil output.

The committee was supposed to have come out with recommendations within six months of its formation.