Sarawak DAP: Petronas still hiring many Peninsular Malaysians

DAP assemblywoman wants state government to ascertain number of Sarawakians working for Petronas in the state, to prove actions taken since last year.

KUCHING: DAP says Petronas is still taking many non-Sarawakian staff here despite an agreement with the state government to increase the number of locals hired for its operations in the state.

Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong said she had received information that the national oil firm may be still hiring workers from the peninsula.

“Last year, our state government took a very firm stand on this issue to stop Peninsular Malaysians from taking up all the top posts in Petronas in Sarawak,” she told a press conference at the party’s headquarters here.

“I would like to ask if that position still stands today. How are they sure that the people at Petronas now are not using other ways to enter Sarawak to work, such as social visit passes instead of work permits,” Yong added.

Yong asked the government to ascertain and publish the number of Sarawakians working for Petronas here in order to prove there has been an increase in the number of locals following the company’s downsizing carried out early last year.

Last March, Petronas announced it was cutting 1,000 jobs, with a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) offered to select staff following a redeployment exercise.

“It seems people can enter Sarawak very easily and job opportunities are taken away by people from Peninsular Malaysia. When it comes to autonomy, I hope they are serious about it,” the DAP elected representative said.

The national oil firm’s hiring practices came under fire last year when it announced that it would replace retrenched Sarawakian staff here with at least 90 Peninsular Malaysians.

Last August, the state government announced a moratorium on work permits for Peninsular Malaysians.

After a meeting between then chief minister, Adenan Satem, and Prime Minister Najib Razak, Petronas announced that a total of 192 posts that were vacant would be advertised in local papers and filled by Sarawakians.

Petronas also agreed that the number of Sarawakians in its workforce at the management level would be increased from 33% to 60%, and at the executive level from 48% to 75%, by 2020.

Petronas said last August that it had 5,190 employees in Sarawak, 3,880 of whom were Sarawakians. -FMT