“If Sarawakians (working in Petronas) are retrenched, and yet others (from outside Sarawak) come in and replace them, it is not fair.
“If there are capable Anak Sarawak, who should continue serving in Petronas, let them continue,” he told reporters after chairing a meeting at Sarawak Islamic Council yesterday.
He said the state government took the initiative to freeze the work permits due to several complaints that Petronas underwent a restructuring exercise which involved retrenchment of officers from Sarawak in its operations in the state.
“There were complaints that many non-Sarawakian officers are still retained to serve here. So, (fellow Deputy Chief Minister) Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah has contacted Petronas senior officers to provide latest figure on Sarawakians working in Petronas.
“In the meantime, we freeze the working permit for them until after we got all the information to be verified,” he said.
The Borneo Post yesterday front-paged news regarding Sarawak government’s decision to suspend with immediate effect all new applications for work permit of Petronas personnel from outside Sarawak intending to work in Sarawak.
Uggah said this would ensure that Petronas would be fair and transparent in engaging with Sarawak regarding its operations here.
The Borneo Post’s front-page reports on two consecutive days highlighted the concern raised by Suarah Petroleum Group (SPG) on the abolishment of 29 permanent positions that resulted in the retrenchment of 13 experienced staff from Sarawak by Petronas in its upstream restructuring exercise in Sarawak.
SPG president Hamin Yusuf was quoted as saying that most senior jobs were also filled by non-Sarawakians and the influx of Peninsular Malaysians filling the lower level jobs exacerbated the situation.
Credit- Borneo Post
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