KUALA LUMPUR – Sabah has yet to have any representation on Petronas’ board of directors despite the state being one of the main contributors to the nation’s crude oil production.
Datuk Ignatius Darell Leiking (Penampang-Warisan), in the Dewan Rakyat today, questioned the lack of Sabahan representation on Petronas’ board of directors.
In response, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed admitted that to his knowledge, there are currently no Sabahans among the nine Petronas board members.
“I am not sure of the background of our board members, but I will look into this and provide a written response,” the Jeli MP said.
Pressed by Leiking, Mustapa said that the prime minister had approved the appointment of a Sabah senior officer as chief executive officer for the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Authority, which is understood to be a separate entity.
He also claimed that Petronas has continuously striven to ensure social engagement with the people of Sabah, saying: “More than 3,000 Sabah citizens have received Petronas scholarships.”
Earlier, Mustapa replied to a query from Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau (Tuaran-UPKO) who demanded for answers as to why Petronas was keeping their financial performance reports a secret and failing to disclose details to Parliament.
Noting that Petronas upholds accountability as part of their company culture, Mustapa said that Petronas is far from secretive as regular updates of the company’s growth and achievements are available on their website.
“Petronas is a Fortune 500 company, ranked 277. Being such a prominent company, they cannot possibly hide their accomplishments,” he explained, adding that there is no specific law that requires Petronas to present their financial reports to Parliament.
“Just because their reports are not shared in Parliament, it does not mean that the people will be in the dark,” he said.
Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi (Tumpat-PAS) also queried about Petronas’ dividends to the government, which he said was affecting the company’s credit rating and finances, to which Mustapa explained Putrajaya received a RM25 billion dividend this year.
“This dividend was awarded after consideration by management and the board of directors,” he said, adding that Petronas saw more than RM80 billion in profits in the first quarter of this year. – The Vibes, November 22, 2021
