Johor to equip youths with skills for PIPC

JOHOR BAHRU: Johor needs to make an early preparation to equip young people with technical and vocational education and training (TVET) skills to meet the manpower requirement of the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC).

State Unity and Human Resources Committee Chairman R. Vidyananthan said the PIPC needs 15,000 workers for the first phase of its operations next year and 27,000 when it is fully completed in 2032.

“We want to train as many Johor youths as possible because we do not want the job opportunities and the economic spillover to go astray. Hence, the state government had taken steps such as working with the Ministry of Education to promote skills training at the grassroots level.

“Investors coming to Johor need not have to rely on foreign workers as we have the expertise and skills, so early planning and training are essential in fulfilling the needs of future employment in Johor,” he said.

Vidyananthan was speaking to reporters after witnessing the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between Johor Petroleum Development Corporation Bhd (JPDC) and three skills training institutes, namely the Pasir Gudang Industrial Training Institute, Kumpulan Pendidikan Yayasan Pelajaran Johor and Johor Skills Development Centre yesterday.

On the MoA, Vidyananthan said it was part of the Johor’s long-term plan in developing human capital for the downstream oil and gas industry in PIPC.

He said the training programme for the oil and gas downstream industry in Pengerang would be coordinated by JPDC, which had received funding from the federal government through the Competitive Financing Programme under the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department.

Vidyananthan said 60 per cent of the 1.5 million jobs to be created under the 11th Malaysia Plan required TVET skills that were sought after within and outside Malaysia as they would give workers the edge in terms of competitiveness and marketability.

Meanwhile, JPDC deputy chief executive Izhar Hifnei Ismail said JPDC was selected as the first industrial development agency to receive RM2.8 million funding under the Competitive Financing Programme.

“One of the six mandates entrusted with JPDC is to make plans and actions to prepare skilled labour for the industry in order to drive and sustain PIPC growth.

“The Competitive Financing Programme funding will be channeled to the six TVET institutions involved, and they will conduct training in various fields for 300 trainees,” he said.

The areas of training identified include site safety supervision, basic safety and health supervision, health and environmental supervision, scaffolding installation (second and third levels) , industrial machinery and machinery handling, paint and rust inspection, and calibration and instrumentation technology. — Bernama