END OF FESTIVAL: Taib (sixth left) together with Masing (fifth left) performing the Ngiling Bidai ceremony to mark the close of the Gawai celebration at Masing’s residence. — Photo by Jeffery Mostapa
KUCHING: The government will not give special concessions to local companies in awarding contracts in the oil and gas industry.
Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who said this yesterday, explained that this was because the safety level in the industry could not be compromised by substandard construction or services.
“Our policy is not to provide special allocation for the oil and gas industry because to get people to perform in this ‘quite’ complicated business you need people who can do it,” said Taib.
However, he was happy to note that there were already several Bumiputera companies which were capable of meeting the stringent safety standard required in the industry.
This is shown by the record that platform fabrication and underwater sea installation were the major contracts undertaken by local companies, he pointed out.
“They (local players) are getting contracts worth millions of dollars from Petronas to build these platforms.
” He added that these projects were rather complicated and challenging to implement but are essential in the oil and gas industry.
Taib also assured local players in the oil and gas industry that they would be given equal opportunities as foreign companies in vying for contracts in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).
“The government’s policy is to make sure that there are equal opportunities for all the players,” he said when asked by reporters on participation of local companies in the O&G sector during the Ngiling Bidai ceremony at the residence of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Masing yesterday.
He advised local companies to formulate ideas on how to expand and integrate their activities to move forward.
Taib, who is also Resource Planning and Environment Minister, expressed his optimism that SCORE would attract technically advanced companies from abroad to work together and form partnerships with local companies.
He added that only crediblysized companies could attract partnership with overseas companies who have the experience.
“This form of partnerships would also enable our local players to expand themselves upwards,” said Taib.
Among those present at the residence of Masing were Assistant Minister of Housing Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Offi ce Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi Ghani and other dignitaries.