[Malaysia] Share With The People

Petronas should share its wealth to help Malaysians: opposition
Thursday, August 04 2005, AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 - National energy firm Petronas should contribute to the country's well-being by sharing its wealth as soaring fuel prices push its profits higher, the leading opposition party said Thursday.

"DAP urges Petronas to fulfill its mission statement by sharing out the 35.5 billion ringgit (9.3 billion dollars) in profits for the 2005 fiscal year with 25 million needy Malaysians to fight inflation caused by higher fuel prices," Democratic Action Party (DAP) secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said.

"It is unethical and against the national spirit for Petronas to reap huge profits from high oil prices at the expense of the sufferings of ordinary Malaysians paying high fuel prices," he said in a letter to Petronas president and chairman Hassan Marican.

"35.5 billion ringgit is so huge that even if every (one of) 25 million Malaysians received 1,000 ringgit each from Petronas, Petronas would still have more than 10 billion ringgit left to conduct business."

Lim suggested that Petronas should either foot the bill for fuel subsidies, which the government currently pays for, or distribute its profits to Malaysians earning below 80,000 ringgit a year.

"It is only fair to distribute Petronas' profits to the people. Better the money be spent on all Malaysians than be used to salvage questionable projects from public scandals and bankruptcy. The people have been deprived long enough," he said.

Malaysia last Sunday hiked the price of petrol by 6.6 percent and diesel by 18.5 percent, saving an estimated 956 million ringgit in subsidies -- funds which the government said will be directed to development projects.

Petronas has said it is on track for another record profit in the current financial year to March 2006 if crude oil prices remain high.

It recently announced that its net profits rose 50.3 percent in the year to March to a record 35.56 billion ringgit (9.35 billion dollars) due to spiralling oil prices.

Revenues rose 40.5 percent to 137 billion ringgit, also an unprecedented result in the company's 30-year history.

Petronas is the only Malaysian company to be listed in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest firms.

- AFP