The Minister of Petroleum, Puot Kang Chuol during reopening of Tharjiath oilfield in Unity State on Monday June 21, 2021 - credit | SPOC Website

The Minister of Petroleum has requested the Minister of Labor to first seek his approval of foreigners applying for jobs in the oil sector before issuing them work permits.

In a letter dated 19th of April, 2022, addressed to the Minister of Labor, Minister Puot Kang sought the cooperation of James Hoth Mai on the move.

“I’m hereby requesting for your usual cooperation and understanding of your esteemed office to make it mandatory for all foreign partners’ secondees applying for a work permit to produce a proof of their secondment by the Ministry of petroleum as a prerequisite for obtaining a work permit approval from the Ministry of Labor,” the statement reads.

The move comes barely two months after the Ministry of Petroleum developed a unified human resources policy manual for personnel working in the oil sector.

The policy signed by Dar Petroleum Operating Company; DPOC, Greater Pioneer Operating Company, GPOC and Sudd Petroleum Operating Company Limited SPOC provides a basis of employment and payment in the oil industry.

Speaking to Eye Radio this morning, Labor Minister James Hoth Mai confirmed he received the letter.

But he said his office is yet to analyze the request made by the Minister of Petroleum.

“We have received that letter and we are analyzing that letter because we don’t know the foreigners working in this country,” Hoth told Eye Radio on Thursday.

“We are relying on the line ministry and the line institutions, this is the same thing with those who are working in the oil sector. We have to get approval from the medical council and without that we don’t give a work permit.

“We are controlling whoever comes, the foreigners who come to South Sudan must get a work permit, we have to take big forms that take everything even including the medical status of the individual who is coming to this country, and so it’s a normal practice.”