Labuan ferry stops operating

LABUAN: Labuan Chinese Chamber of Commerce (LCCC) Chairman Datuk Wong Kii Yii said that Government should explain why its appointed ferry service provider is no longer running the ro-ro ferry "Kimanis 1" on the Labuan-Menumbok route and what action is being taken to rectify the situation.Wong added that the situation was causing anxiety and concern among the business community because without "Kimanis 1" ferry services between the two points may once again become "inadequate" resulting in disruption of supplies of goods.

He said many building projects on the island had been delayed because of transportation problems faced by the developers. "We certainly don't want this problem to recur."

Wong also asked if the Government or the Ministry of Transport including the Sabah counterpart is going to resolve the license of Kimanis and assign another party to operate the service, a party which has the capacity and ferry.

Wong was referring to Kimanis which after operating for about two years under license issued to a Sabah-based company Juta Bonus Sdn Bhd, suddenly closed its counter and ticketing service at the ferry terminal.

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Kimanis had earlier went for docking in Sarawak for about two months and returned on Sept 15 to resume service when the problems occurred. Juta Bonus was among the two companies which had been issued licenses by the Infrastructure Development Ministry to operate the service. The other is Labuan Mainland Link Sdn Bhd.

Recently, it was reported that Kimanis was built and operated by Gaya Coastal Marine Logistics of Sarawak. The company's Managing Director Mej (R) David Ting had complained the vessel was all ready to operate but the charterers seems not keen.

Based on these reports it was apparent that the State Government had not appointed a company which owned a ferry. Many saw this as Ali Baba-style business and felt that if a genuine ferry owner had been appointed the problems would not have occurred.

However, said Wong "Our concern is to have the ferry back in operation and if the license holder could not do it for whatever reason in public interest another company should be appointed and the Ministry should not sit idly watching the events considering that the ferry link was vital for Labuan."

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He said that since the Government was not prepared to build the Labuan-Menumbok bridge despite offer by private investor, it should provide better, efficient ferry service between the two points as an alternative to bridge link.

Wong hoped a quick solution would be found 'for Labuan the more operators the better,' commuter could plan their travel and importers could get their products on scheduled dates.

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