KUCHING – The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) technical committee will meet in early July to discuss in detail the issues to be ironed out in relation to Sarawak’s desire to take over Bintulu Port from the federal government, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Fadillah, who also chairs the technical committee, said the main points of the briefing on port status change planning by Sarawak Deputy Premier and Infrastructure and Port Development Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas yesterday will also be discussed during the meeting.
“Sarawak wants the port to be under a single entity, so I will bring up this matter from yesterday’s briefing and call a meeting of the committee as well as get guidance from the prime minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim).
“The meeting will take place either in the first or second week of July,” he said after launching the MyKasih – Love My Neighbourhood programme for the Petra Jaya constituency today.
Fadillah said Sarawak’s request to take over Bintulu Port has been submitted to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, but no meeting has been held on the matter.
“Therefore, I, as chairman of the MA63 technical committee, will call a meeting in line with the Sarawak government’s wish,” he said.
According to him, the change in port status for the return to Sarawak is in accordance with the federal and Sarawak constitutions, which place ports under the jurisdiction of the state government.
It was previously reported that Sarawak intends to take over Bintulu Port to make it part of a cluster of state ports administered by a central port authority to be incorporated by state law.
Meanwhile, Fadillah, who is also plantation and commodities minister, said he will undertake a five-day working visit to Kenya from July 3 to 7, as the country is a gateway for Malaysia to expand its palm oil exports to the African continent.
“Kenya has the potential to be an entry point due to its proximity to Tanzania and other countries, and the palm oil exports to Kenya in 2022 were 1.2 million metric tonnes, which was a significant amount,” he added. – Bernama, June 24, 2023
