Parti Warisan Sabah said it was wrong to get outsiders, who are not from Labuan or Sabah, to take over the Labuan port’s management.
“It is about paving the way for our local business community to deliver, based on the expectations.
“You can’t say that our local players are not up to the mark and unable to take the port up to international standards,” Warisan vice-president Junz Wong told FMT.
He said it was also unfair to invite external industry players to take over the port’s management without evaluating the performance of the existing operator, Labuan Liberty Port Management Sdn Bhd (LLPM).
The LPA board of directors reportedly tendered out the port management in July last year.
LLPM has been managing the Labuan port since 1998.
“Warisan is of the view that the setting up of the Labuan Port Authority is good but getting outsiders, not from Labuan or Sabah, to take over the port management is inappropriate,” Wong said.
Wong said there were many successful industry players from Sabah and Labuan who were able to manage the port efficiently.
Wong said Labuan MP Rozman Isli, who is the deputy chairman of LPA, should help ensure the interests of locals were given priority.
“Although Labuan is now a federal territory, geographically, it is far away from the peninsula and as such, the local business community with a proven track record should be given the chance,” he said.
Tanjong Piai MP Wee Jeck Seng, from Johor, who has been appointed chairman of the LPA, was earlier reported as saying that the port’s long-serving operator, LLPM, would continue to operate the terminal and the port authority would see if there was a need to review the concession.
He said the LPA would appoint a consultant to help improve the port’s operations and set a time frame for the port to achieve key business objectives.
However, Wong said, to date, no consultant had been appointed and a performance assessment was never conducted.
A spokesman for LLPM was reported as saying that the company had invested millions of ringgit in the port’s operations over the last two decades, including opening an inland depot to ease congestion at its yard and building several warehouses outside of the terminal.
He said the company had developed an in-house information technology system for the cargo tracking system, which was recognised by the Customs Department as being effective in curbing smuggling.
“Despite being given a short concession period to run the port, LLPM is still able to manage the port efficiently,” he said.
It was earlier reported that LLPM had proposed a privatisation exercise of the port’s management to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) but this was turned down due to the absence of a regulatory body.
“Now, Labuan port has a port authority. But we, as the existing operator, have not been given the opportunity to be assessed,” the spokesman said.