PETRONAS ADD SALT INTO SABAHANS INJURY

By : PKR MEDIA

PKR Supreme Council Member cum PKR Sabah Secretary, Dr Roland Chia Ming Shen is very disappointed with the total amount contributed by Petronas in the Petronas Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP) on the people of Sabah.

A mere spending of RM47 million from 1975 to 2011 (over a period of 36 years i.e RM1.3 Million a year) is a total humiliation to the rakyat of Sabah; given that the billions of revenue that Sabah has contributed to the coffers of PETRONAS over the last 36 years.

PKR SABAH insists that PETRONAS revealed the total amount in value of scholarships/sponsorship programmes given to Malaysians and what is the proportion given to Sabahans. Sabah being the the top three state producing oil and gas in the country.

On the other hand, PKR Sabah has got the priorities right for the rakyat that in the 1st 100 days when PR comes into power as stated in Buku Jingga Sabah.

a. RM1 Billion to be set aside as Sabah Heritage Fund - to assist the poor whose income is less than RM1,500.

b. RM1 Billion to be set aside for formation of PetroSabah to capitulate this Sabahan company into an International conglomerate in providing jobs opportunity for Sabahans and attract back the brain drain of Sabahans back to Sabah.

PESP which was started in 1975; a sponsorship programme to provide educational opportunities to deserving students, to help realize their academic potential. It seeks to develop a pool of professionals to meet Petronas Manpower and business growth needs.

To add salt into injury, Petronas had declared that it will spend RM50 billion to RM55 billion a year within the next five years for the replacement of its ageing assets in order to maintain sustainable growth going forward; as reported in their recent announcement of their pretax profit ended December 31, 2010.

This is utterly ridiculous without taking onto consideration of the plight of the rakyat especially Sabahans whose poverty rate in the 2nd highest in the country, Malaysia.

Petronas under the BN government has absolutely got their priorities wrong, that will only benefits certain individuals and not the rakyat as a whole. Petronas can spend billions in investing in F1 Circuit and sponsors fast cars to participate in F1 Circuit, and yet fail to fulfill their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to the very own home country that contributed to their wealth.

Sabah being the largest gas producer and the fourth largest crude oil producer state in the country, never reaped the benefits from this GLC instead being robbed of the very resources to the core.

In addition, Petronas in its CSR effort should invest in free community buses (transportation) to the rural school kids in Sabah & Sarawak for many of them who at times had to walk 10- 20 kms to reach the nearest primary and secondary school, thus depriving them of the basic availability of a decent education.