No official decision on Kudat-Palawan ferry service
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Democratic Action Party ( DAP) secretary Chan Foong Hin confirmed that Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook had met with officials of the BIMP-EAGA Business Councils of Sandakan, Tawau and Kudat in Sandakan.
Referring to a news report on local newspapers on May 13 that the minister had announced the Kudat-Palawan Roll-on-Roll-off ferry service, Chan clarified that the meeting was actually a dialogue meant to understand the issues of the local players on barter trade in the region.
“No official decision has been made by the minister and no exact date for commencement has been fixed yet ... So far, nothing is final and the news had merely reported ideas and personal opinions being expressed during the dialogue.”
Chan, who is also Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament, noted that the minister had emphasized in the said closed-door meeting that the traders were subjected to the shipping safety requirements, but nevertheless would take into account the reality faced by the traders.
“The government’s policy has always been to facilitate and encourage business and trades. Therefore, it is important to deal with issues like the issuance of proper licences for non-conventional small ships (NCSS) urgently used by traders doing business with Sabah,” said Chan.
Malaysia and its neighbouring countries had previously signed an ASEAN Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Mutual Recognition of Non-Conventional Ships during a meeting in Bangkok in November 2018. Through this MOU, the Malaysia Marine Department will allow the entry of foreign barter trade vessels provided that they are certified safe by the relevant authorities from their respective countries of origin.
“Therefore, it is inaccurate for the media to make such a report about the minister as though he had made any promises, whether it is barter trade facilitation, or whether it is to allow the Kudat-Palawan ro-ro ferry service to be operated.”
“The meeting was held a day before the Sandakan by-election polling day, and it was held closed door to enable the participants to speak out their mind. However, and more importantly, it was never publicised to avoid any allegation that the DAP had done so to buy votes by offering goodies to voters. Loke is from the DAP too so we would like to avoid such allegations,” he said.
Chan added that it was never the minister’s intention to publicise this meeting or the contents of the dialogue and discussion.