Kuala Lumpur (Nov 17, 08 5:04pm): The Dewan Rakyat today rejected an emergency motion tabled by the Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) on Petronas' 500km gas pipeline project from Kimanis in Sabah to Bintulu in Sarawak.

Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar rejected the motion that was filed by Eric Majimbun (Sapp- Sepangar) as there was no urgency to debate it although the RM3 billion project was a specific matter and of public interest.

In his motion, Eric (left) said that as the natural resource was coming from Sabah, it was only right that it be developed for the benefit of the people of Sabah.

The federal government recently announced that the project would go ahead, adding that only surplus gas after meeting Sabah's petrochemical industry needs would be piped to Sarawak.

The project is scheduled to be completed by March 2011.

Sapp also suffered a blow at the Sabah state assembly when a similar motion there too was rejected today.

In Kota Kinabalu, Sabah assembly speaker Juhar Mahiruddin rejected the motion filed by Likas assemblyperson Liew Teck Chan.

Juhar told Liew that there would be ample opportunities to debate the matter during the assembly sitting.

Revise oil royalties

Back in the Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, Eric also requested the government to revise the Petroleum Act 1976 to re-determine the oil royalties paid to Sabah.

According to a Bernama report, the royalties should be revised every 10 years by taking into account the gas pipe routes and fuel volume channelled to Bintulu, Sarawak, through Sabah in the interest of the public.

"Petronas and the federal government must see all this, instead of just saying they will pay the five per cent royalty," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Meanwhile another Sapp representative Chua Soon Bui (Sapp-Tawau) said she supported the motion by Eric to cancel the 500km gas pipes from Kimanis to Bintulu.

She (photo: right) said the RM3 billion could be used to build more low-cost housing for the very poor families and for the improvement of basic infrastructures in Sabah.

Sapp has recently withdrawn form the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, claiming that it has lost confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.