Chong submits motion for select committee to oversee Petros
KUCHING: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has submitted a motion to the State Legislative Assembly ( DUN) to set up a special select committee to oversee and supervise the operation and management of Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros).
“To ensure that our oil and gas resources are not exploited only to benefit a few but were equitably distributed and used to create wealth for the general public of Sarawak, a crossparty Special Select Committee must be set up to ensure transparency and equity in the policies and management of Petros,” said Chong in a statement.
He said the setting up of the special select committee was to prevent the oil and gas resources from ‘ending up the same way’ as the once rich timber and land resources of the state.
Chong said the exploitation of the state’s forest and land under the previous state Barisan Nasional government had resulted in deprivation of forest and land to the native community and the destruction of the natural habit. He opined such exploitation had also created a small circle of super-rich ‘cronies’ while the large majority of the state’s people remained poor.
“Now that the forest and huge area of land were gone, Sarawakians remain the fifth poorest households amongst the 13 States and three territories, namely Labuan, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia.”
In the motion shared with the press, Chong stressed the extraction, use and management of oil and gas in the state must be optimised for the wealth creation of all Sarawakians.
“A Special Select Committee comprising at least one DUN member from every political party having members in this House to be appointed to oversee and supervise the policies and management of Petros with the purpose to ensure that the wealth from the oil and gas generated through Petros will be fairly and equitably distributed to all Sarawakians,” stated Chong in the motion.