By D’Drift Team
BINTULU, July 8: Tanjong Batu assemblyman Johnny Pang calls on multinational companies operating in Bintulu especially Petronas to give back to the local community through corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts.
He said the multinational companies in Bintulu have been making profit by using local resources but there has been no contribution to the local community who will be the first to suffer, should there be any negative consequences such as pollution caused by the economic activities of these multinational conglomerates.
“Bintulu’s development cannot depend only on the Sarawak government all the time. The multinational companies here should also contribute and pay back to the society through their CSR programmes,” said Pang, highlighting Petronas.
He said the oil and gas giant has been mining in Sarawak for four decades and only recently, it announced the construction of a MARA college in Bintulu.
“Petronas practically built itself up based on natural resources from Bintulu, yet it has done nothing for the town, or nothing noticeable, at least.
“Bintulu people can’t just rely on the Sarawak government for development and needs because all the oil and gas revenue and taxes have gone to the Federal government which only allocates about five per cent of its total national budget to Sarawak. So we can’t blame Sarawak,” said Pang.
He said there are in total nine liquified natural gas refineries operating day and night in Bintulu, yet the people of Bintulu have never benefited directly from all these economic activities.
“Has the Federal government been fair to Sarawak? Has Petronas been fair to Bintulu?
“The operation of Petronas in Bintulu is done in such a way that it is in its own world, that it has nothing to do with Bintulu people. Many of its staff are outsiders. I wonder how many Bintulu locals it is employing.
“Perhaps Bintulu people should just go and claim some shares or ownership of the Petronas Twin Towers,” said Pang. — DayakDaily
