Warisan’s Datuk Darell Leiking has raised concerns over a new federal law that could quietly override state rights.
The Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Act 2025, which was recently approved in Parliament, supposedly doesn’t apply to Sabah.
But Leiking, speaking during Monday’s state assembly sitting, pointed to a clause buried in the fine print that he says tells a very different story.
Clause A2 may exclude Sabah and Sarawak on paper. But Article 1(3) makes one thing clear: a federal minister can, after a brief “consultation” with the state, trigger the law’s enforcement via a simple gazette notification.
“If we have a weak Chief Minister, this law will come into effect in Sabah. “Don’t let federal bypass the State Assembly,” the Moyog assemblyman said during his debate on the head of state policy speech on Monday.
It’s the kind of legal sleight-of-hand Sabah leaders have seen before—most notably with the Territorial Sea Act 2012, which remains a sore point among East Malaysians who say it stripped Sabah of its maritime jurisdiction without meaningful consent.
Leiking’s concern that this carbon law, if enforced, could allow federal agencies to stake claims over seabed and subsoil areas beyond three nautical miles from Sabah’s coastline—areas that include the state’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.
“This goes straight to the heart of Sabah’s territorial rights,” Leiking argued, warning that the law’s definition of “offshore area” reads more like a maritime land grab than a climate policy.
Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof has previously assured that the law won’t apply in Sabah or Labuan.
But Leiking isn’t convinced. Not with the gazette clause in place.
“We must not allow any Chief Minister to quietly gazette this law into effect,” he said, urging the state assembly to take a firm stand now—before a federal minister exercises that power.
Putrajaya is setting a legal precedent—one where federal climate and energy policy is allowed to supersede state authority, not just through legislation, but through ministerial discretion.
Leking said this isn’t just about carbon. It’s about control. If Sabah lets this slide, it may not just lose oversight of emissions—it may lose leverage over everything beneath its waters. – April 14, 2025
