KOTA KINABALU, Oct 2 — The Sabah government has not approved any oil and gas exploration in the Tun Mustapha Marine Park area, where the Block SB-403 potential site is located, said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew.

Liew said both her ministry (KePKAS) and the state Environment Protection Department (EPD) has not even received any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submissions or applications for exploration of the SB-403 Production Sharing Contract site.

"To date, the authorities for the Tun Mustapha Marine Park, which was gazetted as a Marine Park under the Parks Enactment 1984 in 2016, has not received any applications or granted any approvals related to oil and gas exploration activities within the Tun Mustapha Marine Park area,” she said in a statement yesterday.

Any activities within the protected area that have been gazetted under the Sabah government must obtain approval before any activities can commence.

Tun Mustapha Marine Park in the northern region of Sabah is the largest marine park in the country at 900,000 hectares spanning across three districts. It was gazetted as a Marine Park under the Parks Enactment 1984 in 2016.

"The state ministry, through the Board of Trustees of Sabah Parks, is responsible for ensuring that the marine ecosystem within the protected area is fully preserved in accordance with the Parks Enactment 1984 and other related state laws,” she said.

The issue of oil and gas exploration at the park was raised last week by environmental watchdog Rimba Watch, which urged the state government not to allow exploration in the area due to the risks towards its rich biodiversity, marine life and livelihood of the local Bajau Laut and Ubian communities.

The environmental group said block SB-403, which was awarded under a production sharing contract between Petronas Carigali, EPMV and SMJ Energy, overlaps entirely with the TMP’s boundaries.

However, state-owned SMJ Energy Sdn Bhd had previously clarified that it has no equity stake in the oil and gas exploration of the SB-403 Production Sharing Contract (PSC), but instead has a "back-in right” for the future in the event of exploration success.

The "back-in right”, the company explained, allows it to decide whether to join as a partner in the future, taking into account commercial, technical, environmental, and other factors.