Good governance a must for Bintulu Port after takeover, says MP

KUCHING (July 20): Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen calls upon the state government to uphold the good governance and high standards set by the past management of Bintulu Port.

In expressing this, the Stampin MP said he fully supports the devolution of the control and management of the port to the Sarawak government.

“The passing of the Bintulu Port Authority (Dissolution) Act, 2024 effectively gives the power and full control of the Bintulu Port to the state government, which is the only federal port in Sarawak controlled and managed by the federal government, and is the best-managed as well as the most profitable port in the state.

“In line with the policy of decentralisation and devolution of power, the federal government last year agreed to hand over Bintulu Port to the Sarawak government, and after several rounds of discussions, the tabling and passing of the Bill finally happened in Parliament on July 17.

“I hope after this takeover, the state government would continue the good governance and high standards set by the past management.

“Also, the new management should continue to provide hundreds of employees with the same, if not better, benefits,” he said in a statement today.

According to Chong, this is one of the three most important policy changes in this month’s Parliament sitting that would have a long-lasting positive impact on Malaysians and Sarawakians.

He said the passing of the Medical (Amendment) Act 2024, another important policy change, meant to give formal recognition to parallel pathways in overseas medical specialist training courses.

He said the amendment would guarantee future doctors wishing to pursue their specialist training through overseas courses provided by the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in the UK, Australia and Canada, among other countries, upon completing their courses in order to be registered as specialists in Malaysia with the Malaysian Medical Council.

He observed that in the last few years, certain quarters had tried to restrict future medical specialist training to only the master’s degree courses offered in local universities.

“Had they succeeded in their scheme of things, I fear it would spell disaster to the country.

“Not only will there be another wave of ‘brain drain’ in a huge emigrant of specialist potentials from Malaysia, we the common people would have much lesser access to specialist treatment in the future.

“The Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led government and the medical fraternity of all races had fought very hard against such scheme.

“We finally succeeded, thanks to the resolve of the Health Ministry, the support from the whole Cabinet, as well as the government backbenchers in the Parliament coming together to pass the Bill on July 17.”

Another major policy change was the guarantee given to Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students obtaining 10As, of them being offered a spot in matriculation upon application, said Chong.

The DAP lawmaker hailed this as a small step towards meritocracy, and more importantly, it would assure the students that the government treasured their talents.

“With the implementation of this new policy, no longer will we read news about the disappointment of 10As students at being rejected for matriculation and how it will hurt their chances of entering universities.

“Some may ask: ‘What about the 9As students who are as equally outstanding?’.

“Ideally, they should also be given priority, but at least for now, the perennial issue involving the 10As students should be resolved once and for all through this small change in policy.

“To me, these positive policy changes will have long-lasting impacts on us individually, and the country as a whole.

“It also spells the immense possibility for changes that this Unity Government can install for the country in the next few years until the end of its tenure,” added Chong.