GETTING READY FOR THE DAY: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud accompanied by his private secretary Datu Mustapha Han walking into the DUN complex to start the day’s proceeding.
Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan
SECOND Resource Planning and Environment Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan has refuted claims by Chong Chieng Jen (DAP-Kota Sentosa) that the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) would not be able to create sufficient job opportunities when it is fully operational come 2030.
When delivering his winding-up speech on the Regional Corridors Development Authorities (Amendment) Bill 2012, Awang Tengah said the projected job creation figures as stated in SCORE’s official website was only based on the government’s earlier studies in 2007.
At the time, he said, SCORE had not even existed and relevant industries today had yet to invest in the region.
“The projection was only a guideline in the SCORE development planning process. However, considering the need for skilled and semi-skilled workers which is the main component to the success of SCORE development planning, the government decided to appoint Unimas (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak) to conduct a more comprehensive study in accordance with specific needs of industries proposed for SCORE,” he explained.
Awang Tengah added that the two researches conducted at two different times took into consideration two different assumptions (projections), and as such it was not right for Chong to make the reckless comparison.
He highlighted that both researches were done by highly qualified experts.
The demand for manpower in the SCORE area by skills-level and source as projected in the website revealed a job projection of 200,000 by this year and the demand would increase to 397,000 by 2015, 570,000 in 2020, 719,000 in 2025 and 836,000 by 2030.
On the other hand, a study on ‘SCORE Manpower Requirements for Skilled and Technical Workforce’ conducted by Unimas projected the following; A total of 145,445 jobs to be created by 2015, 331,033 by 2020, 478,228 in 2025 and 667,238 by 2030.
The difference in figures has led Chong, who is Bandar Kuching MP, to cast doubts on the capability of SCORE to generate job opportunities as projected, when debating on the bill (Regional Corridors Development Authorities (Amendment) Bill 2012) tabled by Awang Tengah earlier.
An interesting point to note was that Chong also highlighted the need for the website to be updated, considering that the last update was on July 7, 2010.
“In the internet era today, official websites are the key information to the world. It is important to keep them up to date,” he said in his debate.