Rice transshipment ban affecting S’kan traders

SANDAKAN: Local traders here urged local leaders to bring their problems to the attention of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) following the ministry’s decision to continue banning transshipment of imported rice to the Southern Philippines, effective January 1.

Local traders here claimed that following the transshipment ban which started last year, it had seriously affected their businesses when they were banned from exporting rice that they had imported from Thailand and Vietnam.

Representatives from Sandakan Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Sabah Shipping Agencies Association, as well as other trading companies, were among the local traders who had voiced their concern to Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong Ket Kiun and member of parliament for Kota Kinabalu, Chan Foong Hin during a dialogue session held at Elopura Democratic Action Party (DAP) office, Bandar Letat here, yesterday.

According to the traders, before rice transhipment was banned, Sandakan had about 100 boats per month involved in exporting rice.

Each boat carried about RM600,000 worth of rice and RM300,000 worth of other food supplies including sugar, flour, and cigarettes.

On December 27, last year, the MOA issued a letter to the Ministry of Transport on the extension of rice transshipment ban for another three months for research purposes.

Chan said the ban was affecting the whole country and not only Sabah. However, he would take the problems raised from traders here to the federal government soon.

Traders also voiced their concern over the State Finance Ministry on its requirement for barter trade licence, in which Sandakan was allocated with a quota for 35 licence holders.

Problems occurred when a majority of the old-time traders who had been in the business for a long time, failed to get the licence as most of the application forms were taken by newcomers who are not from Sandakan.

Datuk Seri Loo Yap King from Abadi Jutamas Sdn Bhd said when he found out that those who managed to get the application forms were not from Sandakan, he asked for the ministry to look into the mechanism so that local traders would stand a chance in applying for the licence to conduct barter trade.

Loo said Tawau and Kudat were also each allocated with 35 barter trade licenses but there were still a lot of spots left.

“A lot of traders want to apply for the barter trade licence in Sandakan because Sandakan has the most strategic location for barter trade; Sandakan is the closest to the Philippines. We are fine with the number (35) but we hope that the Ministry of Finance would look into opening the application for all traders who wish to apply, and then select the applicants based on their qualification, origin (is it a Sandakan based company), and experience in the field.

“Old-timers should be given priority because we know the ins and outs of the business; we know the connections, and we have existing customers,” he said.

On the issue, Calvin said he would write a letter to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal to voice the concerns of the traders.

Calvin also said the letter would also include the fate of sawmills and its workers in Sandakan following Shafie’s announcement to stop timber exports from Sabah.

Also present during the dialogue session was Minister of Health and People’s Wellbeing, Datuk Stephen Wong who was represented by his liaison officer, Jimmy Tsen.