Malaysia, by way of national oil and gas company Petronas, scored below average in a study on transparency of revenue management of extractive industries that covered 41 countries worldwide.
The country obtained 48.4 points compared with the study average of 51.8 out of the maximum of 100 points in a joint study by Revenue Watch Institute and Transparency International, which was released yesterday.
As such, Malaysia sits in the middle of countries with "partial revenue transparency, that is countries which provide citizens with information about extractive sectors, yet show important transparency gaps in one or more specific categories of (the Revenue Watch Index)".
Malaysia falls below the average 50.1 points obtained by other Asia Pacific countries. Brazil leads the pack with 97, while Turkmenistan is at tail end of the list, with only 9.7.
Malaysia is behind Indonesia, which scored an average 50 points, and trails Papua New Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, Kazakhstan and even Timor Leste.
The peer-reviewed first-time study rates countries on accessibility of information on contracts, licensing and government payments, as well as institutional structure compelling transparency.
It also measures laws governing revenue sharing between different administrative and political units among the 41 countries deemed to be dependent on oil, gas and mineral extraction.
Of those countries, only one does not have a state-owned oil and gas or minerals company. The country was not named.
Malaysia drew a paltry 11 marks for access to information on contracts and licencing procedures, but scored top marks for having rules governing the operation of funds.
Petronas should be accountable to Parliament
For Transparency International Malaysia president Paul Low, the concern is not whether we top the list, but whether Petronas is accountable to the public.
"When you look at the areas in the questionnaire where we scored zero, you would see that Petronas is not compelled to disclose information to the public," he said.
According to the Petroleum Development Act 1974, Petronas is only accountable to the prime minister of the day, not even to Parliament.
Low (right) said that at present, much information of interest, including how much each state receives in oil royalty, was not disclosed publicly and only became public knowledge when there were disputes.
Among the questions on which Malaysia scored zero are:
Has the country adopted a rule or legislation that provides for disclosure of information in the oil, gas and mineral sectors?
Does the government publish information on the licensing process during or after negotations?
Does the legislative branch have authority to ratify oil and mining contracts?
Is the authority in charge of awarding licences or contracts for mineral or hydrocarbon production independent of the state-owned company or other operating companies?
Does the Ministry of Finance publish some or all information on production stream value, licence fees and government share?
Does the government publish information on transfers received from the central government?
"No one will care if they are managing or producing peanut butter, but they are managing our natural resources and therefore should be accountable to the public," Low added.
Source: Malaysiakini
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