Upko Aim to Scrap Petronas Gas Pipeline Project

Upko is keeping everyone guessing as to what it will do if it fails to get the controversial RM3bil Petronas gas pipeline project scrapped.

Upko president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said that he wants to first bring up the issue of the proposed 500km pipeline from Kimanis in Sabah to Bintulu in Sarawak to the Cabinet.

“To be fair, we will cross that bridge when we come to it,” Dompok said when asked if Upko will get off the Barisan Nasional bus if it fails to get the pipeline project scrapped.

“We have to take things one at a time. I will be talking to the Cabinet about this on Friday and I want to pursue it,” he said when asked if Upko planned to leave Barisan if it fails to get the project scrapped.

On PKR’s call to Upko to quit Barisan, Dompok replied: “They are entitled to express whatever opinion they have. We are not beholden to any other party, our client is the rakyat.”

Dompok, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, told this to reporters Thursday after launching an integrated multi-agency mobile public complaints programme at Buhavan Square in Penampang here.

He said that the contention about the gas pipeline project is that Kimanis is only a natural gas landing point as the gas would be piped to Bintulu where it would be processed and exported as Liquefied Natural Gas.

“What we are saying is that the gas could be used here (in Sabah) as a pit stop for a lot of other downstream activities - urea, fertiliser and all this. The gas can be used for the generation of electricity, so that we can have energy security,” he explained.

He said the Gayang Independent Power Plant in Tuaran had about 20 years guaranteed supply and questioned what would happen after the gas ran out.

What we want to do is to explain the need for energy security for Sabah itself, he said, adding that the Prime Minister on May 31 had announced that the gas pipeline project was scrapped and a power plant would be built.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Saturday said the gas pipeline project was on and assured that the state government would be paid oil royalties while Petronas would build a narural gas-powered plant in Kimanis.

Author: Jo Amey