In a statement today, Speca president Rahman Lariwoo said one of its members who participated in the tender for the provision of alternative blasting and painting for Petronas Carigali found out that the job had been awarded to a firm based in Peninsular Malaysia.

“The contract is to provide equipment, manpower and consumables for the alternative blasting works offshore Sarawak.

“This scope is not rocket science (not requiring highly expert knowledge) and there are a lot of Sarawak companies that can do it,” he said.

Rahman said without the state government’s intervention in the matter, Sarawak companies involved in the oil and gas industry would be frustrated  as they have been working to improve themselves to get better and fair treatment from Petronas.

“The award of the tender is not in line with the Sarawak government’s objective of having more local companies participating in its oil and gas industry,” he added.