Cabotage policy unlikely to go: Wong
Published on: Sunday, August 14, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: The Cabotage Policy looks set to stay for a long time to come and its backers can rest assure that it will continue to give them peace of mind in sheltering the local shipping industry.Long time crusader against the policy, Datuk Seri Wong Ken Thau, however, said he also saw something being done to address the biggest problem that had long been attributed to the policy – the price difference between Sabah and the peninsula and Sarawak."Yes we can see some progress to address the price difference, but let us hope it will not take another 15 years before we see any positive effects," he said at the 'Did Cabotage Policy Breach Malaysia Agreement' forum, Saturday.
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Wong, who is also Honorary Life President of the Federation of Sabah Industries (FSI), said the policy had continued to discourage competition to come to Sabah and Sarawak, leading to costlier goods in the Bornean states.He said he had spoken to many politicians and leaders over the years, and many failed to understand the situation because they never had any business or simply could not grasp the complexity of the situation."I worked closely with the State Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to determine some of the prices in Kota Kinabalu. You can see that there are two sets of figures on this issue.
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"The figures released by the Federal-based Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) are much lower, that prices in Kota Kinabalu are much cheaper. But the ones released by EPU are much higher."You can check the figures from them and you will see the stark differences." Wong also pointed out that figures released by Pemandu showed that shipping costs contribute only 10 per cent to the transportation costs and blame it on the long supply chain.
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However, the Malaysian Shipowners' Association (Masa) showed ocean shipping costs contribute up to 46pc of transportation costs.He also said many people are concerned that local shipping industry will suffer if the cabotage policy is repealed."But somehow or rather, the shipping industry has not been growing. They are money losers and all these, despite they being given lots of tax incentives. Do you know that they are the only industry that is tax-exempted?" he saidAs for the Government's effort to address the price difference by introducing the price equalisation scheme, he said it is very limited to only essential items.Not only that, he said, the scheme also failed to actually address the whole issue."Don't tell me that Sabahans have no right to buy luxurious items. Our rural people also want nice things. The price subsidy is only for essential goods."By itself, there is nothing wrong with the policy. But it is the implementation that is wrong. People do not understand. I have spoken to many politicians and leaders, including the president of Masa. He does not understand what our problem is," he said.Wong admitted that cabotage is just one of many issues that contribute to the high prices in the State.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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