GEORGE TOWN – The Perikatan Nasional government’s failure to meet its April 28 cabotage policy deadline has raised the ire of former finance minister Lim Guan Eng.
In a statement issued yesterday, Lim said the matter is symbolic of a “failed government”, and hit out at Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.
“Wee on November 13, 2020 refused to continue Pakatan Harapan’s cabotage policy of granting exemption to foreign ships carrying out repairs on submarine cables to encourage foreign digital investments.
“The stubbornness of Wee in clinging to a failed cabotage policy caused Facebook and Google to bypass Malaysia, and their concerns of delays of up to 27 days for submarine cable repairs were ignored.
Now that the two-week deadline is up, there is deafening silence on our digital future. Such indecisiveness on the outcome of this review is typical of a failed government.”
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on April 14 said the cabinet would make recommendations in two weeks’ time on the disputed cabotage exemption.
He said the issue was brought up in the weekly cabinet meeting, and ministers and the Economic Planning Unit were instructed to deliberate on the policy’s impact on digital investments and the local shipping industry.
The cabinet members involved were Wee, Khairy, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (finance), Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (communications and multimedia) and Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (entrepreneur development and cooperatives).
Wee has come under fire over the policy, which was blamed for Facebook Inc’s decision to put on hold the deployment of another two submarine internet cables.
The Vibes reported that the social media giant had wanted to deploy the cables following the completion of an earlier project, namely the Bay to Bay Express Cable System, which has a pit stop in Malaysia.
But following Wee’s removal of the cabotage exemption put in place by his predecessor, Anthony Loke, Facebook “KIV-ed the landing of two more cables”, said an insider.
Wee has received brickbats from stakeholders for undoing Loke’s policy, which had been in place since April 2019.
The latest flashpoint arose earlier last month, when news outlets reported that Facebook was deploying two cables – Echo and Bifrost – from the United States to Indonesia, with a pit stop in Singapore.
Market participants, such as the Malaysian Internet Exchange (MyIX) and opposition politicians, chided the missed opportunity as a sign that the country was paying a high price for Wee’s about-turn.
After undoing Loke’s policy, Wee issued a few statements, including a lengthy interview with business publication The Edge, to clarify his policy choices, including reassuring stakeholders that the Malaysia Shipowners’ Association would not jam applications or interfere moving forward, but work to expedite applications from foreign vessels.
He also issued a statement rebutting MyIX over Echo and Bifrost, saying previous projects bypassed Malaysia, tensions in the South China Sea had spooked companies from installing undersea cables in the region, and the country lacked data centre infrastructure.
He said the revocation of the cabotage policy would reduce the outflow of foreign money, lower Malaysia’s dependence on foreign vessels, and increase local capacity for such jobs.
The remarks drew further criticism, including from the likes of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation chairman Datuk Rais Hussin, who tweeted that the minister should verify his statements as data centres have existed in the country since the 1990s.
Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Amazon have written to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in a joint memorandum “to express our urgent concerns” about Wee’s decision. – The Vibes, May 1, 2021
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