Dewan Negara approves two bills to return Bintulu Port to Sarawak

The Parliament of Malaysia (file photo)

By DayakDaily Team

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29: The Dewan Negara today has approved the repeal of two bills to return Bintulu Port to the Sarawak government.

According to a report by TVS, the two bills are the Bintulu Port Authority (Dissolution) Bill 2024 and the Declaration of an Area in the Bintulu District to be a Federal Port (Repeal) Bill 2024.

A total of 15 members of the Dewan Negara were involved in the debate after the bills were presented by the Deputy Minister of Transport, Datuk Hasbi Habibollah.

Hasbi said on Feb 20, 2023, the Sarawak government submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) regarding their intention to change the status of Bintulu Port from a Federal Port to a Sarawak State Port.

“Following this, the Ministry has taken appropriate action to refine the application with the Sarawak government and a Cabinet Memorandum on the outcome of the discussion was presented at the Cabinet Meeting on March 22, 2024,” he said when tabling the Bintulu Port Authority (Dissolution) Bill 2024 in the Dewan Negara in Kuala Lumpur today.

The Dewan Negara Speaker, Datuk Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah, then announced that a total of eight Honorable Members participated in the debate on the bill.

On the tabling of the Declaration of an Area in the Bintulu District to be a Federal Port (Repeal) Bill 2024, Hasbi informed that the matter includes two clauses.

He said Clause 1 contains a simple title and gives the minister the authority to set the date of commencement of the proposed Act.

Meanwhile, Clause 2 aims to provide for the repeal of Act 217 and the orders made under it due to the change in government policy to change the status of Bintulu Port from a federal port to a state port.

He added that this bill only focuses on the aspect of repealing Act 217.

“Other matters related to the status change of Bintulu Port and its implications will be explained in more detail through the tabling of the Bintulu Port Authority (Dissolution) Bill 2024,” he said earlier.

A total of seven Dewan Negara members participated in the debate and were approved after the third reading.

On July 17, the two bills were approved in the Dewan Rakyat after being tabled for the second reading by Transport Minister Anthony Loke. — DayakDaily