Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen has proposed that employees from peninsular Malaysia working as Petronas executives be barred from the state.

He said the ban should remain in force until Petronas increase the participation of Sarawakians in its management in the state to 70 percent.

"DAP also calls on the state government to revoke the work and entry permits of the current Petronas management and middle management peninsular employees until such time when the target is reached.

"When the state government can be quick to ban the entry of opposition politicians from entering Sarawak during the state election to protect BN’s interest, there is no reason why such powers cannot be exercised to protect the interests of Sarawakians in general when it comes to job opportunities for locals," he said in a statement.

He pointed out that the Sarawak government has sole power over work and immigration permits.

Chong said Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem had announced in the state legislative assembly in November 2014 that Petronas had agreed to increase Sarawakian participation in human resources, education and technical training.

However, he said to date, most of the senior posts in Petronas' operations in Sarawak were still filled by non-Sarawakians, with Sarawakians filling only 39 percent of management positions and 46 percent of middle management posts.

As such, he said tough action must be taken to force Petronas's compliance.

"Since Petronas and the federal government are paying no heed to the Sarawak state assembly’s resolution, the state government should withhold these work and immigration permits to prohibit the Petronas’ management and middle management level employees from entering Sarawak.

"It is only by imposing such strong measure that we can get Petronas to accede to our request for more opportunities to be given to Sarawak locals," he said.

Chong's statement came after Sarawak-based think-tank Suara Petroleum Group expressed concern that Sarawakians were now being retrenched from Petronas as part of the oil giant's restructuring exercise.

"When it comes to employment by Petronas for its operations in Sarawak, Sarawakians are still not given priority.

"On the other hand, when it comes to Petronas’s restructuring exercise, Petronas is quick to retrench experienced Sarawakian workers without considering re-deploying these workers to other jobs within the Petronas Group," said Chong.

He said Adenan's government should not wait until Sarawak's oil run out before it asserts its state's rights.