104 MALAYSIAN FAMILIES TO BE SHIFTED

A TOTAL of 104 families with Malaysian citizenship and permanent resident status will be provided with houses to enable the RM3 billion integrated oil and gas hub project to be implemented smoothly.

The 237 families living in Pulau Daat, Labuan, an island earmarked for the project, have been compensated RM1,000 for each family, with half of them having left the island to look for dwelling elsewhere.

Not only the living will have to go, but the dead too have been relocated since May last year, with the help of the Labuan Religious Department (Jawi) which started a massive relocation of old graves, with some even having been there for more than 40 years, to the Sungai Labu Muslim Cemetery.

Most of those staying on the island are IM13 holders of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib told Bernama that all the 104 families would be given houses and area would be determined soon.

Phesal said a meeting with various agencies and departments, including the National Security Departmet, had been held, "we need the consensus from all relevant parties as those staying are also Malaysians."

Group project director of RG Oil and Gas (the main contractor for the project) Jimmy YM Tang has confirmed the relocation of all the families would be carried out soon and agreed to provide them with houses.

"We do not foresee any problem in negotiating with the families concerned for their relocation as the construction of houses would be borne by us," he said.

Tang said the integrated oil and gas hub, which would provide land-based logistics and support services, would be built over four phases.

"Earthworks for the first phase project will be completed by year-end.

"We expect the first phase to commence operations by end-2012 or early 2013," he told Bernama.

The hub is one of the nine new Entry Point Projects of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

Tang said the first phase, with an investment of RM500 million, would involve the building of a storage tank terminal with a capacity of 300,000 cubic metres.

"The other three phases include building a 1.5 million cu metre storage tank terminal, engineering fabrication yard and other facilities including water storage facilities," he said.

Tang said the hub would likely benefit from the opening of new oilfields around the area.

"Besides, the location is also strategically located nearer to South Korea and China that could be potential customers," he said.

Made a Federal Territory in 1984, Labuan is seen by the government as having potentials in helping Malaysia to become one of the world's top deep-water oil and gas hubs after Houston in the United States, Rio De Janeiro in Brazil and Aberdeen in Britain.

Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin said that if the plans were implemented accordingly, Labuan would definitely realise its potential to become the hub for the oil and gas industry in the region.

He said Chinese firm, Zhuhai Winbase, known to have one of the best tank storage facilities in the world, was among the first foreign companies to commit investments in the proposed Labuan oil and gas hub.

Zhuhai Winbase specialises in petrochemical products storage and distribution and has business dealings with renowned companies such as BP Amoco, Hutchison Whampoa, Eternal and Union Polymers.

He said the proposed Labuan oil and gas hub would complement the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) being develop by Petronas in Kimanis. (BERNAMA)