By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Dec 9: With the commercial agreement signed between the Sarawak government and the national oil corporation Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), there will be no more looking on as bystanders for Sarawakians.
Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda) Kuching branch’s chairman Dato Sim Kiang Chiok believed that the agreement will propel the oil and gas (O&G) industry in Sarawak further through state-owned Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) and boost the state’s economy towards becoming a developed state by 2030.
“Sarawak will have much bigger roles in the O&G industry and this will be good for our local businesses to provide services to Petros and Petronas and creating much bigger spinoff in our economy.
“No more ‘tengok saja’ for Sarawakian but time for us all to be actively be involved in this industry.
“It also set the roles of Petronas to offshore activities and Petros to onshore that will mutually benefit both operations for the best returns for our state government and its people,” he said in a statement.
Sim opined that the signing of the commercial agreement between the Sarawak government and Petronas was timely and set the path to restoring what was rightly belonged to Sarawak.
He noted the agreement spelled out clearly the role of Petronas and state government through Petros.
Sim who is also a director of Sim Swee Yong Development and Construction Sdn Bhd believed that more Sarawakian and companies can be involved in providing the upstream and downstream sectors of O&G that will provide more job opportunities and business for Sarawakians.
He noted the gas distribution in Sarawak which was reserved to Sarawak’s own use will help to attract and promote more manufacturing factories to be set up in Sarawak, thus creating more foreign direct investment (FDI), jobs and business opportunities.
As for Petronas to continue and expand its current vendor development programmes as well as to provide more opportunities for Sarawak companies to participate in the O&G sector, Sim said the move is good to develop local companies to be involved in O&G industry.
“At the moment, there are only a handful of Sarawakian companies that are involved in this field.
My hope is that there is a set target in term of how much works to be awarded to Sarawakian companies, and subject to a set timetable, and any Sarawakian companies should be encouraged to be involved so that we can develop a strong support for in our O&G industry in a shorter timeframe,” he added.
Sim noted that the Sarawak government has achieved much success in restoring our rights over our O&G resources and has started to improve our state income that is being planned to put to good use to build and improve our infrastructure, communications to be developed state by 2030.
He believed all the good work was due to the strong leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg through the support and unity of all Sarawakian to stand firm on our rights.
Hence, he believed Sarawak can look forward to a bright future for the people and our future generations. —DayakDaily
