Call to abolish fees for Filipino vessels
KOTA KINABALU: The BIMPEAGA Business Council for Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is calling for the immediate abolition of pilotage and tugboat fees currently being imposed by the Sabah Ports and Harbour Department on all Filipino traders upon arrival in Sabah.
BEBC-ARMM Country director, Haji Mohd Faizal Salam Jamalul, feared that traders in the ARMM region would be forced to divert their trading activities to other Asean member countries if the Sabah government imposed the new ruling allowing only steel hull vessels to be used for trading activities between the Philippines and Malaysia after the expiry of the one-year moratorium period.
Speaking to reporters here yesterday, Faizal said Sandakan port is charging RM5,200 for pilotage and tugboat fees on all Filipino traders.
“What we experienced in the past few months during the suspension of trading activities between the Philippines and Malaysia is that we were given permission to retrieve our cargo upon payment of the said fees as imposed by the Ports and Harbour Department here,” he said.
According to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Faizal said it is stated that traders are duty bound to pay the pilotage and tugboat fee if the cargo is 500 tons and more.
He said some of the Filipino traders also claimed that shipping agents in Sandakan had reportedly failed to issue official receipts for the said fees to the payees.
Faizal said the matter was brought to the attention of the Marine Department during a courtesy call on Wednesday.
“We sincerely hope the authority concerned will immediately look into our complaint in the soon- est time for the benefit of all,” he added.
On the issue of Non-Conventional Sized Ship (NCSS), the chairman together with his vice-chairman, Redentor Lauddin, who is also the Basulta chairman, said that by abruptly disallowing traders to use wooden vessels after the expiry of the one-year moratorium would mean a lot of Filipino traders would have to close shop.
“We agree with the idea of scrapping the wooden vessels in the future. But for now, what we are asking is to give traders a little more time to prepare because buying a steel hull vessel is too expensive,” they said.
Besides, Rendetor said, traders with steel hull vessels would be encouraged to trade with countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam instead of doing business in Sabah.
If the big players shift their activities to these countries, then it will defeat the purpose of the concept of BIMP-EAGA and ultimately Sabah will be at the losing end.
It was learned that the BIMPEAGA Business Council for ARMM had suggested to extend the use of wooden vessels in specific destinations within the BIMP-EAGA region in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to be signed during the scheduled BIMP-EAGA Leadership Summit to be attended by President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila next month.
Meanwhile, head of BEBC Lahad Datu, Nordin bin Ening, expressed hope that the Sabah government would consider the suggestions aired by the Filipino counterpart.
“Personally, I hope our government will compromise because if the Filipino big traders were to shift their trading activities to other Asean countries, then Sabah will lose the business opportunities,” he said.
Nordin said let us not forget that Indonesia is still using the wooden vessels when trading and in the BIMP-EAGA ministerial level, a majority succumbed to the idea of the usage of wooden vessels.
“Traders who can afford to level up their wooden vessels to steel hull vessels are welcome to do so but for those facing monetary difficulties should be allowed to continue to do business,” he stressed.