The former Petronas chairman said that if the federal government agreed to provide the royalty, he wanted to ensure that the money was not misused by the state government.
"My offer to be a mediator may have been misinterpreted. I had only offered to help monitor to ensure that the oil royalty given as cash payment is not misused, provided the federal government agreed to it.
"However, as the money is not being given as cash payment or royalty, and as it is to be given as compassionate fund, the matter does not arise any more," he told reporters here.
Earlier, Tengku Razaleigh had attended the opening of the 13th general meeting of the Kelantan Mosque Officers and Staff Association by the Tengku Bendahara of Kelantan, Tengku Mohamad Faiz Tengku Ismail Petra, who is also the President of the Kelantan Islamic Affairs and Malay Customs Council (MAIK), here.
Kelantan Financial Planning, Economy and Welfare Committee chairman Husam Musa had announced that the state executive council had approved the appointment of Tengku Razaleigh as the state government's representative in discussions on the oil royalty with the federal government.
Tengku Razaleigh criticised those who often misinterpreted the matter, saying these were politicians who thought of nothing else but politics.
Asked whether he had received any letter from the state government appointing him as its consultant on the oil royalty issue, he said he had not.
Not in support of state government
Tengku Razaleigh said he did not support the state government in its claim for the oil royalty but only provided an explanation of the legal right of the state government as he was the one who had drafted the law governing petroleum royalty.
"I will not support. I only spoke in terms of the law. If oil is found offshore Kelantan, the state is eligible for five per cent (of the oil revenue).
"The law has not been amended since. I drafted the law. That was the requirement of the law. It was also what (second prime minister) (Abdul) Razak (Hussein) had wanted done," he said.
Asked whether it was right for the Kelantan government to continue to demand oil royalty when the federal government was providing the compassionate fund, Tengku Razaleigh said that was up to the state government because he had nothing to do with the matter.
He said he would also reject any offer to be the state government representative on the committee distributing the compassionate fund set up by the federal government because he had a lot of other matters to attend to.
- Bernama
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