Labuan port operator links congestion to Sabah barter ban
Published on: Friday, January 06, 2017
Labuan: Labuan Liberty Port Management Sdn Bhd (LLPM) and the Labuan Royal Malaysian Customs Department are taking steps to reduce congestion and delays at the Labuan Port. LLPM Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Mohd Alias Abd Rahman said the measures included doubling the operating hours to 18 hours seven days a week, thus increasing loading and discharging rates of the equivalent to 30 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) daily from 10 TEUs previously. He said the Labuan Port has also provided up to 21 days of free storage for transhipped goods to make it more attractive to exporters.
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"No stuffing and unstuffing activities are allowed in the container yard to ensure the space can be used for storage only. Port users may conduct the job at the premise of the consignee, or if so chosen by the consignee, at our container yard outside the port," he told Bernama. Mohd Alias said in order to safeguard safety and security, the authorities were monitoring the operations especially after daylight and all boats must leave the port before the assigned time. "We have also asked the authorities to allow us to transfer laden containers, including those containing transhipped goods to our container yard outside the port (currently being used for empty containers) for storage of such containers and to conduct related activities," he added.
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Mohd Alias, who is also Labuan Malay Entrepreneurs Chamber of Commerce president, said LLPM had leased a yard outside the port to store empty containers. On the Labuan Chinese Chamber of Commerce's call for the Ministry of Transport to determine the cause of the port's congestion, Alias said LLPM should not be blamed entirely, instead the complaints should also be directed to the appropriate parties.
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"Even though LLPM has jurisdiction over many operational aspects of the port, it does not have total control of its administration. "We admit that there is congestion at the Labuan Liberty Port, but the so-called 'barter trading', as claimed by the chamber, operates from the port, is not accurate. "Instead the term should be 'transhipment of goods' whereby goods imported from another destination is shipped to Labuan and then transferred to another ship (known as 'kumpit') for onward shipment to southern Philippines," he said. Alias said the 'shift' of the transhipment of goods to the Labuan Port resulted from the Sabah government's decision to ban such trade in the East Coast of Sabah in April 2016. "Consequently, Labuan offered its facilities and services to serve the daily and urgent need for importation of goods by traders from southern Philippines," he said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Mohd Alias said previously, loading and discharging of goods were conducted only during daylight, i.e. from 8am to 5pm, and no operations were allowed during weekends, thus only 10 TEUs could unloaded daily. "Productivity declined drastically during inclement weather, further contributing to the delays and congestion," he said. – Bernama