Dr Yii wants meetings on Bintulu Port takeover to be expedited

KUCHING (Nov 13): Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii wants meetings on the takeover of Bintulu Port from the Federal Government to be held sooner.

Dr Yii, who is also the Democratic Action Party (DAP) Youth chief, disclosed in a statement today that the first meeting of the working committee on the takeover was supposed to take place on Nov 1 this year but was then postponed due to some unavoidable circumstances.

“I conveyed my hope that the next meeting be scheduled as soon as possible as this involves issues of public interest for us and we want to ensure whatever arrangements and agreements that are made must benefit Sarawak as a whole and serve as a growth catalyst in our region.

“I will continue to follow up on this matter in my capacity especially to ensure the timeline is properly adhered to without any unnecessary delays,” he added.

Dr Yii also highlighted the process of the takeover of Bintulu Port by the Sarawak government.

He said federal Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah had stated that the special committee had been set up at the ministerial level on top of a working committee at official level from the federal government and Sarawak government to address pertinent issues.

These committees are platforms for the federal government and the Sarawak government to carry out the exchange of relevant information regarding the intention of the Sarawak government to change the status of Bintulu Port from a Federal Port to a State Port.

Discussions that will be carried out include obtaining more information from the Sarawak government regarding the acquisition method of Bintulu Port.

Once the information has been researched and refined accordingly with the Sarawak government, the results of the research will be raised to the level of a Special Committee whose membership consists of the Minister of the Ministry of Transport, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah Affairs, Sarawak and Special Tasks), Deputy Premier of Sarawak, and Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development of Sarawak.

Once the Special Committee meeting has been held and the research from the results of the meeting has been completed, this ministry will prepare a Cabinet Memorandum that will be prepared by the federal Ministry of Transport to inform the findings of the discussion and obtain consideration and approval from the Cabinet.

While he raised concerns over the progress timeline for such action, he was grateful for the current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and federal Transport Minister Anthony Loke who has been consistent in upholding the interest of Sabah and Sarawak as stated in Malaysia Agreement of 1963 (MA63) and the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report as such devolution of authority of the port would not have happened if both of them were not open to that principle.

“I welcome the announcement by Transport Minister YB Anthony Loke on the progress on the agreement for the Sarawak government to take back the authority over the Bintulu Port in line with the spirit and need for more devolution of powers back to Sabah and Sarawak,” Dr Yii said.

This was also affirmed by Anwar when he announced in his Budget speech that the federal government had agreed to devolve Bintulu Port back to Sarawak, he added.

Dr Yii said he had brought up this important issue in Parliament so that Sarawak can have better control of its maritime hub and promote greater trade activities which may act as an additional economic catalyst within the region.

“In my debates in Parliament, different issues were brought up including the technicalities of such a devolution which includes the staffing, financial understanding, concessions agreement, ownership model, legal authority, the need to amend or repeal the Bintulu Port Authority Act and also how it fits into the overall Bintulu Port Development Plan,” he elaborated.