Rafizi: Sarawakian quota in Petronas does more harm than good
PKR leader says quotas will stifle growth of Sarawakians within the company, reiterating call for Borneo states to form own petroleum companies.
(FMT) – PKR lawmaker Rafizi Ramli believes introducing quotas for Sarawakians in Petronas’ operations in Sarawak will do them more harm than good.
Referring to Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s suggestion yesterday that Petronas have a 70 per cent quota of home-grown management and middle management staff in the state’s operations, Rafizi said he understood the sentiments of Sarawakians, but imposing such quotas could be detrimental to the staff.
“All Petronas executives are taken from the company’s headquarters and reassigned to the various units and subsidiaries around the world, as the oil company’s operations covered upstream, gas, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), oil refineries, petrochemicals, and downstresm activities, such as marketing and international trade.
“This gives Petronas employees all sorts of expertise in various operations, and thus, makes them more marketable,” the Pandan MP said in a statement released today.
“In my opinion, introducing quotas for Sarawakians in Petronas’ operations in the state would stifle their growth, as opportunities for promotion would be focused solely on the company’s operations there.”
Rafizi added that Sarawakian employees would have difficulty changing positions and gaining experience in other areas of the company.
Rafizi, who was a Petronas scholar and employee until 10 years ago, said Petronas’ operations were limited to upstream operations in Miri as well as the LNG complex and urea plant in Bintulu.
“Having worked for Petronas in Sarawak before, I understand the sentiments of Sarawakians, who feel that the state’s rich resources were not being shared fairly, but blaming the company will not solve the issue,” he said.
Political interference
Rafizi believes that while there were short-term benefits in having a quota, Sarawakians would lose out in the long run as they would not gain enough experience to go up the ranks in the Petronas group.
“This will give rise to a new problem as there would be a dearth of Sarawakians for the top positions in the company,” he said.
He said a global conglomerate such as Petronas must be free of political interference and not be politicised, and that Petronas could only deliver the best results if it adhered to commercial and professional considerations.
Rafizi said the discontent over the unfairness of wealth distribution of Sarawak’s resources should instead be discussed with the Federal Government, led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, as Petronas was bound by laws formulated by Putrajaya.
“This is why I have suggested on numerous occasions, for the Sabah and Sarawak state governments to form their own oil companies, assisted by Petronas, and this would better benefit the people of both states and develop their expertise,” he said adding, in this way the respective state governments could have a say in employment policies.
“However, my idea was not even paid attention to by any Sarawak and Sabah leader from Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan.”
Instead, Rafizi said it seems the politicians from both states are in a race to hit out at institutions from Peninsular Malaysia, when they should be hitting out at Najib for failing to fulfill promises of greater autonomy.
Yesterday, Chong had called on the Sarawak state government to revoke the work and immigration permits of non-Sarawakian Petronas workers in the state until the proposed 70% quota had been met.
