Yayasan Sabah Technology College deal on water and petro courses
Published on: Saturday, March 09, 2024
Dr Jeffrey (fifth left) with Tah Nia (third left), Pathmanathan (fifth right) and Suhaimi (fourth right).
Kota Kinabalu: The Penang Water Services Academy (PBA Resources) will train staff of the Sabah Water Department and interested students on better water management.
This follows a memorandum of Understanding signed with the Water Department and Yayasan Sabah Technology College (KTYS), Friday.
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Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan, who witnessed the signing, said KTYS would soon also introduce new courses to meet the demand for skilled human capital in “upstream” petroleum operations now that Sabah is enjoying a greater say in managing its oil and gas resources.
“This step is very necessary considering that Sabah produces approximately 60 per cent of Malaysia’s crude oil which is worth RM35-RM40 billion every year.
“The Sabah Government welcomes and will support all efforts to build its human capital, especially in strategic industries that can advance our beloved country,” he said.
PBA Resources Director Ir. Pathmanathan K said Sabah has big resources but bad treatment systems.
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“The three to six month hands-on courses are recognised as diplomas at polytechnics by the Ministry of Human Resources.
“Through collaborations with Indonesia we have produced 5,400 students,” he said.
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Dr Jeffrey said Sabah irrigation needs improvement with help of the Federal Government.
“However, I am unhappy that many of my requests have been ignored. Maybe they don’t have the money but we are disappointed because our constitutional 40 percent revenue has gone unfulfilled for years.
“We are asking them to return it because we want financial resources. Imagine Sabah’s petroleum revenue alone fetches RM35-40 billion and that is not including the rest.
“We can multiply this revenue ourselves, for Sabah’s own development…we wait for July as we received the interim payment on condition that the problem is solved,” he said.
He added that unlike peninsula, Sabah has no rice granaries and, therefore, is ineligible for the targeted government assistance.
“We also want our padi farmers to receive assistance that is only provided to the peninsula but not to us,” he said, when asked about Sabah’s low rice self-sustainability levels.
Also present were KKYS Sdn Bhd Executive Chairman Datuk Tah Nia Jaman and Sabah Water Department Director Suhaimi Asbullah.
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