STOP digging into Petronas, it has ALREADY done a lot for the Bumis - PKR slams non-stop Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR — Petronas should be allowed to run independently of its political masters, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers have said in their criticism of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who recently told the state oil firm to embrace the pro-Bumiputera New Economic Policy (NEP).

Such political interference could eventually lead to the destruction of the national cash cow, warned PKR’s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, who was formerly a budding star in Petronas before he ended his career there as a senior manager.

“I say leave Petronas alone and monitor its vendor development programme objectively, interference in the award of contracts or oil blocks will kill PETRONAS in the long run.

“Because Petronas’ role is to build their (Bumiputera) capacity to compete, not to subsidise or mollycoddle them forever,” he told The Malay Mail Online yesterday.

“Once they have graduated from the capacity building stage, they are expected to compete like everyone else and take their business to the global market.

“Likewise, if they cannot perform then they cannot continue to be given preference,” he added.

Tie contracts to performance

As a former employee of Petronas, Rafizi said he understood the “pressure, pride and dilemma” that Petronas has to go through, particularly when those with little or no understanding of the global oil and gas industry issue demands or comments.

He said Petronas has endured the stress of having to balance between national service and delivering performance, as more than 40 per cent of the country’s expenditure is financed by Petronas profits.

“Petronas has a national duty to develop local vendors and Bumiputera entities provided they meet the strict criteria set by Petronas because Petronas deliverables depend on them performing.

“So while it is true that we expect Petronas to carry qualified local and Bumiputera vendors, it comes with strict caveat that these vendors truly out-perform,” Rafizi said.

Politicizing & handouts culture

The greatest “headache” for the firm, the MP said, is the constant interference from politicians who allegedly insist certain companies must be given preferential treatment, even without qualification.

“This has been a culture in BN (Barisan Nasional),” he said.

“Not much different from the way NFC was awarded to unqualified companies belonging to a minister’s family,” he added, referring to the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal which has been linked to former minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abd Jalil.

Rafizi’s PKR colleague Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar echoed the lawmaker’s concern on political interference in Petronas’ business, reminding the firm’s critics to take note of the number of awards it has already given to Bumiputera firms.

“It’s really unfair to tarnish and paint Petronas as such because we are asking them to adhere to international standards,” she said. “...and I believe Bumiputera businessmen want to be awarded based on their merits and talents not because of their membership with certain extremist groups.”

“I think they should stand by their record, at the same time, support could be seen in many ways,” she said.

Adhering to international standards

In a Sinar Harian report on Thursday, Dr Mahathir said Petronas should toe the line and support government policies, in particular the NEP, which offers special rights to the Bumiputera community.

Dr Mahathir, who is the national oil firm’s adviser, insisted that the present government under Datuk Seri Najib Razak has yet to dismantle the NEP, a controversial pro-Bumiputera affirmative action policy that was mooted in 1971 but implemented mostly during the former’s administration.

But adding a disclaimer, Dr Mahathir said although Bumiputera firms should be accorded special treatment from Petronas, this must be based on merit.

Dr Mahathir was responding to the newspaper’s previous report on complaints from NGOs like the Malay Economic Action Council, several vendors and petrol station operators against Petronas, which they alleged has begun sidelining Bumiputera-owned firms.

The former prime minister, according to Sinar Harian, agreed that he too had received similar complaints and had passed along the concerns to the top management of the petroleum company.

“My work (as adviser), I’ve informed the Petronas president (Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas) about these issues (complaints that Petronas for sidelining Malays),” he was quoted as saying in the daily.

Piggy bank

But Nurul Izzah reminded Petronas’ critics and Dr Mahathir that it was important to develop a Malay entrepreneur class that is rewarded based on their merits and talent.

This should be the guiding objective, she said, not just for Petronas, but for every company.

“I would urge Dr Mahathir to look at that instead, to ask the government to stop using Petronas as personal piggy bank and it starts with the prime minister’s reduction of his own department,” she said.

Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen, another PKR lawmaker, said Dr Mahathir was entitled to say whatever he wants but “as far as I know, Petronas already does a lot for Bumiputera”.

“It is quite clear that it is no longer NEP and we have to give a bit of credit for his attempt to do so but I don’t see the implementation done,” he said.

But unlike his PR colleagues, PAS’s Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar said the concerns raised by Petronas’ vendors should not be dismissed entirely.

“That’s why Petronas need to be investigated on why it has failed to help the Bumiputeras because what was said today, Petronas oppressed the petrol station operators.

“Most of them are Bumiputera and they should be given the rights and freedom on where they get their supplies from,” he told The Malay Mail Online yesterday.

Mooted in 1971, the NEP had an ambitious aim to redress the socio-economic gap between the largely-urban Chinese and the rural Malays as well as other indigenous Bumiputera, within the span of two decades.

It was implemented mostly during Dr Mahathir’s 22-year tenure but even the former prime minister, in his own words, had later admitted that the policy had somewhat created a “disabling culture of entitlement” among the Bumiputeras.

The NEP ended officially in 1990, but the key aspects of its Malay/Bumiputera-preferred action plan remains in various forms years later.

Malay Mail