Engineering firms in Sarawak must keep abreast of the world trend to develop with sustainability in mind.
Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said this was essential in order to conserve a healthy environment for the future generations.
“The growing concern today is whether we can develop without destroying or changing nature.
“We have to work within an environment where we can be in harmony with nature,” he said when officiating at Jurutera Perunding Wahba’s 22nd anniversary dinner and rebranding.
He said the state needed to be more sustainable and address the long-term health of the environment through being greatly concerned about its conservation.
Engineering firms played an important role by producing products and services aligned to this, and believed that the younger generation was more committed to this, he added.
In addition to this, he said, the world trend also subscribed to being multi-discipline.
Furthermore, he noted, Sarawak was smack in the middle of global trading house China, India, Australia and South Africa and the state offered these countries cheaper energy to process their minerals and raw materials.
“Thus we are involved in this transformation in providing engineering services,” he said.
Taib also said the demand for talents and skilled workers had gone beyond race and ethnicity.
“Be you a bumiputra or a non-bumiputra, the difference in background doesn’t really matter. It is the pooling of talents that makes our struggle meaningful and bring us together to become a solid fruitful team,” he said.
As such, he said bumiputra no longer rely on pity to get by as they have progressed.
Earlier, Wahba’s founder Datuk Wahab Suhaili said since it first began, the company had always been customer-oriented and to complement this, it always believed in building a strong and dedicated team.
“I am proud to say that we have a stellar record in delivering reliable services and products to our customers.
“We believe in delivering engineering, technological and service excellence that add value and enhance our clients’ businesses,” he said.
He said growing from strength to strength, Wahba had achieved several certification such as the ISO 9001:2001 Certification in Design, Project Management, and Administration of Civil and Structural Engineering Works.
Wahab said from a civil and structural engineering consultancy, it had expanded to broader sections of consultancy services such as marine engineering, transportation engineering, oil and gas industries, information and communication technology, environmental engineering, project and construction management, water supplies, reclamation work and more.
He noted that like other firms, Wahba also had its share of shake ups during the financial crisis in 1997 and the European Debt crisis but it had been able to weather the storm with support of the Federal and state governments.
