Brunei govt tells oil and gas contractors urged not to cut employees’ salaries

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Aug 28 (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Mohd Amin Liew Abdullah said there is no reason for oil and gas (O&G) contractors not to pay workers for three months, should the number of Covid-19 cases recede and activities resume with different standard operating procedures (SOPs).

This was his response at the press conference in the capital, after it was made known that some crew who could not work offshore were being denied a daily pay salary for three months.

They lamented that it was not their choice to not work; the employer had said only 50 per cent of the essential workers were allowed to go offshore, and that they had mouths to feed and bills to settle.

The minister said to follow the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) directives, certain oil and gas activities cannot be performed, resulting in a reduced scope for some of these activities, hence not required to go offshore.

“I mentioned before that Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP) has not cancelled any contracts, but has reduced the scope of work to follow the SOPs.

“BSP, Brunei LNG Sdn Bhd (BLNG) and a few other organisations have come up with arrangements to ensure the safety of the workers, and SOPs that are acceptable to the MoH.

“We have also mentioned the need to keep the O&G activities uninterrupted but minimised, and the workers continuing to work. These SOPs were discussed with the MoH, and we take the best practices from offshore operations in other countries,” the minister said. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN