KOTA KINABALU – The declaration of the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) in Lahad Datu as a port is seen as a catalyst to improve Sabah’s economy and mitigate the rise in prices of imported goods, said state Industrial Development Minister Datuk Joachim Gunsalam.
The POIC was already declared a “Legal Landing Place” previously before being officially declared as a port under the Sabah Ports Authority Enactment today – a process that had taken nine years to complete after the port was ready for operations in 2013.
Joachim said the port located on the east coast of Sabah would be able to ease the congestion at Sepanggar Port as shipping companies can now drop and load cargo from POIC Port.
“Now with the POIC, the shipping routes will not only be focused in Kota Kinabalu (Sepanggar Port) but also in Lahad Datu.
“So with this, we see not only it will help spur the economy and industrial development in Sabah, but also subsequently reduce the rising prices of imported goods.
“Goods can now be dropped not only in Kota Kinabalu, but also in Lahad Datu,” he told reporters during the POIC port declaration and concession signing ceremony between the Sabah Ports Board and POIC Logistic Sdn Bhd, today.
Joachim is also Sabah deputy chief minister.
Foreign shipping companies are apparently giving the Sepanggar container port here a pass, deciding to unload in Port Klang for a slew of reasons.
Industry players cited port inefficiency and the lack of pick-up volume to compensate for their journey to other ports following the liberalisation of the cabotage policy several years ago.
This resulted in a bottleneck at Port Klang, with Malaysian shipping liners forced to pick up the goods bound for East Malaysia and in doing so, prodding operators to impose additional shipping charges.
The situation resulted in a steady rise of the prices of goods in East Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Joachim also expressed hope that local industries would be able to increase their volumes to attract more shipping companies to call at the local ports.
The declaration of the POIC Port was done by Sabah Public Works Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
In April this year, POIC signed a strategic collaboration with China’s Shandong Port Overseas to link Sabah’s industrial park with hundreds of ports around the world.
China’s Shandong Port Overseas Development Group has four port groups along China’s eastern seaboard under its wings – Qingdao Port, Rizhao Port, Yantai Port and Bohai Bay Port.
It also has access to 313 shipping routes, of which 173 are international, 113 Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership national ports and 84 Belt and Road Member port routes. – The Vibes, June 29, 2022
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