RPA’s handling capacity at its wharves up 6.7 pct first 5 months of 2024

SIBU: The Rajang Port Authority (RPA), which started from a port with a small jetty and a handful of staff, is now a port able to provide trustworthy, efficient, and reliable service to its customers, said Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum.

The RPA chairman said that the authority, established 53 years ago, has benefited everyone.

“The customers I mention here include all of us this evening, the employees of Rajang Port, the shipping agents, forwarding agents, hauliers, consignees of cargo who patronise our facilities,

“Not to forget, our partners in the port community, especially Royal Malaysian Customs Department, Marine Department, Sarawak River Board and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency which play a role in ensuring cargo meant for the rakyat in Sibu and its surrounding areas reaches its intended customers,” he said in his speech at the RPA annual dinner at a renowned hotel here, last night (July 17).

Salang also praised RPA for having a steadfast grip on its operations and finances amidst the unrelenting turbulent waves of the Covid-19 period.

“In 2022, RPA saw a 5.8 per cent surge of cargo being handled at its premises compared to the volume in 2021 as customers continued to stock up goods in the face of the uncertainty experienced during the pandemic.

“In 2023, the world economy experienced heightening prices, especially of raw materials worldwide, arising from the limited resources created during the pandemic,” he said, adding that the prices of goods — not only raw materials — had surged by 8 per cent, and the increase in prices worldwide had also affected the RPA’s throughput, which decreased by 5.5 per cent compared to 2022.

“As the world economy continues to recover, I am glad to acknowledge that the authority has picked up its throughput in 2024.

“In the first five months of 2024, the throughput handled at RPA wharves recorded an increase of 6.7 per cent over the same period in 2023. I am hopeful that the authority will continue to do well until the end of the year,” he said.

Meanwhile, RPA acting general manager Hayati Kiprawi said that RPA handled a total of 1.4 million tonnes of cargo at its wharves last year.

“Having said that, I am glad to report that in 2024, Rajang Port Authority started strong. For the first five months of 2024, the authority recorded an increase in cargo throughput, handling 617,325 tonnes against 578,298 tonnes in 2023, representing an increase of 6.7 per cent.

“Financially, the authority continued to record another profit for 2023, an amount of slightly over RM6 million,” she said.

She stressed that the achievement was only possible with the continued support of its workforce and customers in particular, who have given RPA the confidence to push itself past challenges and complexities year after year.