Kota Kinabalu: Industry, Entrepreneurship and Transport Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said congestion at Sepanggar Port has increased due to a rise in direct shipping following new investments in Sabah.
“This is a sign of healthy economic activity rather than a purely negative development,” he said when tabling the Sabah Ports Authority (Amendment) Enactment 2026, Wednesday.
He said shipping companies had previously favoured Port Klang over Sepanggar because there were too few containers available for the return journey.
“Previously, at Sepanggar Port, for example, we were mainly importing containers of goods from abroad. Shipping companies preferred to go to Port Klang first because
if they sent directly to Sepanggar Port, there were not many containers at that time, a few years ago, for them to take back to continue their journey to the next destination,” he said.
He said this had since changed with new investments coming into the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP).
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“Following the hard work of the Chief Minister and the State Government in the last term until today, a lot of investment has come in. At KKIP, Kibing, SK Nexilis, which produce their goods, the volume in the form of containers exported from Sepanggar Port has increased,” he said.
“This has caused more direct shipments from ports outside Malaysia to Sepanggar to happen more often now. And that contributes to what we call congestion.
“This is what we call a good problem for us to solve, because it shows a good indication of our economic activity,” he said.
Ewon said shipping companies’ routing decisions still depended on whether there were containers to carry onward.
“If they send goods and bring empty or full containers to the next destination, they will certainly come to Sabah, to Sandakan Port, POIC Port and other ports. But if there are no containers they want to bring out, they might choose Sepanggar only or choose another port where they can continue their journey to the next destination by picking up new containers,” he said.
Ewon said he saw strong potential to develop all of Sabah’s ports, drawing on suggestions raised by assemblymen and described the responsibility as a heavy one he was determined to carry with the amendment’s support.
Additionally, he said two new quay cranes are being installed at the Tawau Port.
“We are installing two new quay cranes in Tawau Port. God willing, in early August, the Chief Minister and all of us will be able to launch the new quay crane operations,” he said, adding this would mark progress within the government’s first six months in the current term.
On the Sepanggar Port expansion project, Ewon said the delay was caused mainly by a shortage of suitable sand rather than cement.
“Sand meeting the required standard can only be taken 10 kilometres from Sepanggar Port, out at sea. That is what has caused this expansion project to be delayed and these five extensions of time now run until October 2027. As of June, its performance stands at 62.75 per cent,” he said.
He said the project’s contractor had agreed to hand over land for interim use.
“After we met with them in February, at least four acres, they have guaranteed, can be handed over for use as a temporary container yard while the entire expansion project is fully completed,” he said.
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