INSTEP READY IN TWO YEARS

WELL DONE…. Musa presenting the Best Student Award to Canicius Kundayis.

SABAH can expect to have Institut Teknologi Petroleum Petronas (Instep) within two years, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said.

Announcing this yesterday, Musa said the educational facility would be built in Kimanis.

“This is Petronas’ promise to us,” he said when officiating at the convocation for 211 Sabahans who graduated from Instep’s Petroleum Technology Programme for the 2007 to 2009 intake.

According to Musa, to have a training centre on oil and gas was a dream for Sabahans especially those in Kimanis as it will provide them with opportunity to study in the field without having to leave the state.

“This augurs well for the state’s oil and gas industry. It will also provide many job opportunities for the locals,” he said.

Musa also said the oil and gas industry is among the main contributors to the state’s economy and in 2010, Sabah contributed to 26.9 per cent of the country’s crude oil production.

Sabah, he added, is lucky that Petronas is here to ensure that the valuable natural resource is administered in a responsible way by all Malaysians including Sabahans.

He expressed confidence that the oil and gas industry has the potential to grow even bigger in the future especially with the support of knowledgeable and able human resource.

“Therefore, Petronas’ training programmes conducted through Instep are one of the best platforms to guide the younger generation towards fulfilling the industry’s human resource needs,” he said.

The convocation yesterday was held for Sabahans who graduated from Instep’s Programme Teknologi Petroleum 1 (one year) and Program Teknologi Petroleum 2 (two years).

They were part of the 1,000 students who graduated in the programs.

Since the programs were introduced in 1988, more than 7,000 students have graduated including almost 700 from Sabah.

A majority of them are currently employed by Petronas as well as other oil and gas companies. (BORNEOPOST)