Dr Jeffrey Kitingan
KOTA KINABALU: It’s a magnanimous move by the Madani Government to open up all ports including Sabah as national load centres will enhance and benefit Sabah and boost Sabah’s economy in the longer term, said Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
“I have requested at least two times to previous federal governments to declare Kota Kinabalu Sapangar Bay Container Port as the second national load centre after Port Klang but were denied,” he said in a statement today.
Sabah and Sapangar Bay Container Port sits strategically at the centre of the ASEAN region and the gateway to the BIMP-EAGA region, said Dr Jeffrey, adding having Sapangar Bay Container Port as the second national load centre would have opened up new logistics, business and economic opportunities leading Sabah and Sapangar to be the logistics and maritime hub for BIMP-EAGA and the wider ASEAN region.
“Unfortunately, the Federal authorities failed to see the economic and socio-economic benefits and spin-offs of Sapangar Bay Container Port as the second national load centre and failed to entertain my earlier requests.
“The Federal authorities also failed to realise that the development and economic growth and enrichment of Sabah and Sapangar Bay Container Port will contribute positively to the economy of Malaysia,” he said.
According to him, Sabah sits at the gateway to a relatively under-developed region but which holds tremendous potential, more so with the shifting of the Indonesia capital city of Nusantara in Eastern Kalimantan and the growth and stability of the Moro Autonomous Region in Southern Philippines.
“With the removal of Port Klang as the sole national load centre and opening up all the other Malaysian ports especially for Sabah ports will lead to further development of Sabah especially in the logistics and maritime industry.
“Now that the cabotage policy and national load centre policy has been abolished, the Federal Government needs to re-assess their priorities on ports and maritime industry in Sabah. They need to ensure that adequate and timely funding are provided for Sabah to take advantage of their policy change so that Sabah can leverage on their ports and focus on building up the trade, industry and maritime sectors to increase cargo volume for their ports and ships that come a-calling.
“I am very positive that the move will spur and further stimulate the economy of Sabah and its immediate region with Sapangar Bay Container Port on the West Coast and POIC Port in the East Coast being strategically located and ready to take on additional opportunities,” said Dr Jeffrey, who is also the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister.
“At the local level, our Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Ministry will be looking to enhance our infrastructure and business opportunities with the development of a fishing port and downstream processing.
“This is in line with the State’s vision of developing the Sabah Blue Economy and making a leap into the maritime and fisheries industries.”
