LETTER | It has been 100 days since Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Abang Openg announced that he would look for a non-Muslim Dayak to sit on the board of directors of the newly-formed state-owned oil and gas company, Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros).

When Abang Johari proudly announced the list of Petros board members on Aug 25, I released a press statement on the same day calling for the state to name at least one non-Muslim Dayak on the board.

I believe that if I didn't make the call, the chief minister would probably not have thought to include one. It was only after my press statement went viral on social media that Abang Johari decided to do so.

However, instead of making the announcement by himself, he did it through his deputy, Douglas Uggah Embas as a damage control. Since then, the public, especially the Dayaks, see him as sidelining the community in almost all major appointments.

I have several questions to ask Abang Johari on why is it so difficult to name at least one non-Muslim Dayak to the Petros board. Why does it take so long to look for a professional and educated non-Muslim Dayak?

It is not just that the majority Dayaks have been sidelined in major appointments; the long-delayed appointment has shown that Dayaks has been forgotten by our state leaders.

It's unacceptable to delay the announcement as we are not lacking for professional, educated and talented Dayaks to sit on the Petros board. I believe that the state has produced many from the community working in the oil and gas industry.

These include those who are employed by big oil and gas companies such as Shell and Petronas, and have experience working in other countries, such as UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Sudan, Brazil, Canada, and even in Russia.

Some of them even hold managerial positions in these oil and gas companies. That is why I see no reason for Abang Johari to delay the announcement, as we have a pool of professional, educated and talented Dayaks in the oil and gas industry ready to make the step up to the board.

It seems that Abang Johari is not serious in bringing fairness and justice to the Dayak community. It has been a well-known fact that despite being the majority ethnic group in the state, the Dayaks have been systematically discriminated against by the state government policies at almost every level.

Their contributions seem to be denied by the state government and the composition in the Petros board is just more proof of lopsided representation and racial imbalance. Once again, the majority is being grossly underrepresented while minorities are being overrepresented.

It is a well-known fact that Sarawak is the home of various ethnic groups, but when it comes to the state civil service, statutory bodies or GLCs, it does not reflect the same diversity. The state government has no intention in making right the lopsided racial composition of workers in the civil service, statutory bodies and GLCs.

As such, I urge the state government, particularly the chief minister, not to delay the inclusion of non-Muslim Dayaks on the Petros board, as doing so would shield the state government from accusations of discrimination and marginalisation of the community.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.