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ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. at the official opening of the Dormitories and Safety Training and Security Centre Second Singapore Petrochemical Project
Welcome Remarks by
Mr Kwa Chong Seng, Chairman and Managing Director
ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. at the
Official Opening of the Dormitories and
Safety Training and Security Centre
Second Singapore Petrochemical Project
Friday, 1 August 2008
Acting Minister for Manpower, Mr Gan Kim Yong
EDB Assistant Managing Director, Ms Aw Kah Peng
Distinguished Guests
Colleagues
Good Morning.
On behalf of ExxonMobil, I have the privilege of extending a very warm welcome to our Guest of Honour, Minister Gan Kim Yong to this opening ceremony for the Dormitories and Safety Training and Security Centre.
We broke ground in November last year and our project team has been busy building our second world-scale ethylene cracker and its derivative units. When completed in early 2011, this project, together with the existing Singapore Chemical Plant and Singapore Refinery, will be the largest integrated manufacturing site in the ExxonMobil circuit.
A project, this size, needs a lot of help and I am happy to welcome and thank the government agencies who have supported us and continue to work with us.
These are -- the ministries for manpower, home affairs, trade and industry, national development, environment and water resources -- and their agencies - NEA, SLA, LTA, BCA, SPF, SCDF, PUB, JTC, and EDB. The approvals to build these facilities and timely completion and operation would not have been possible without the consideration and active support of these government agencies.
Minister, I am happy to report that this multi-billion dollar project is on track. Site construction activities continue to ramp up. We have more than 2,000 workers on site today and the workforce will peak at 12,000 workers by the middle of next
year.
As can be expected of a world-scale project, it is complex and it will employ ExxonMobil's latest proprietary technologies. Many man hours of planning go into a project of this scale, not only to ensure the design integrity of the many components, but also so that it is built safely and in a secure environment. These facilities, which we will tour in a few minutes, are designed and operated with three important things in mind.
First, is the recognition that safety and security of our workforce is critical to the success of our project.
Second, is that the well-being and welfare of our workforce will help keep productivity high.
And third, is our attention to safety training to help ensure all our workersunderstand ExxonMobil's requirements for safe behavior and safe activity.
No worker, can begin work at this project site, unless they complete and pass the Safety Orientation Course. I am happy and proud to point out that the Safety Training and Security Centre is a Ministry of Manpower accredited training provider. Safe and secure operations is more than awareness, it is about attitudes, behavior and always working safely. The Safety Training and Security Centre helps to inculcate this safety mindset for activities both on the job and off the job.
We are very pleased to be able to host you this morning. You will see the many attributes of the amenities that are designed for the well-being of the workforce. Our tour aims to highlight the many improvements we have incorporated to the accommodation, recreation, social, food, health and hygiene facilities at this large and complex project worksite.
Thank you.
