BPA, BPSB hold first townhall meeting with stakeholders
BINTULU: Bintulu Port Authority ( BPA) together with Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd ( BPSB) hosted an inaugural townhall meeting with key stakeholders consisting of port users and relevant government agencies at its auditorium at Menara Kidurong yesterday.
The meeting led by newlyappointed chairman of BPA Dr John Brian Anthony, BPA general manager Zulkurnain Ayub and BPSB chief executive officer Dato Mohammad Medan Abdullah served as a platform for key stakeholders to engage directly with both the port authority and the port operator.
Some 70 representatives from 18 companies in shipping lines, shipping agents, logistic service providers to exporters and importers attended the meeting which was attended by Tanjong Batu assemblyman Chiew Chiu Sing.
Prior to the meeting, key stakeholders were requested to submit their questions in writing to ensure a more effective dialogue session.
The questions received ranged from operational matters to safety and security as well as future plans on port development.
In his welcoming remarks, John welcomed the participants to the session and acknowledged the importance of the port users’ feedback to the port.
He also stressed the need for the port to continuously engage with stakeholders in constructive dialogues in the future.
Medan echoed the remarks made by chairman of BPA on the importance of maintaining continuous engagements with all stakeholders.
He said the townhall meeting served to reinforce BPSB’s own ongoing engagement programmes such as customer insight groups ( CIG), customer loyalty and retention programme (CRP) and customer attraction programme (CAP).
At the press conference later,
On top of that, this townhall meeting also gives us transparency so we do not hide issues and push papers, proposals, ideas that come to us, and it also challenges us to be responsive, accountable and responsible to the needs of the industries. Dr John Brian Anthony, BPA chairman
John expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of the first session, saying a meeting will be held again in June next year.
“On top of that, this townhall meeting gives us transparency so we do not hide issues and push papers, proposals, ideas that come to us, and it also challenges us to be responsive, accountable and responsible to the needs of the industries,” he said.
He also mentioned that Bintulu port has to move from supply driven to a demand driven entity.
“Demand driven means the market is moving forward and we shouldn’t be lagging behind in terms of providing our services.
“So it would be value for service and we would like to make Bintulu port a bigger player in terms of improving the economy of the state and to play a role in building businesses.
“This is a very important asset of the government that has been entrusted to Bintulu Port Authority. We want to ensure that such an asset will provide value to Sarawak in particular and Malaysia in general by providing excellent services,” he said.
John added these excellent services cannot be achieved without operational excellence, and operational excellence cannot be delivered without people’s excellence.
To be excellent, he called on the port regulator, port operator and all key stakeholders to work closely together to move the economy of the country forward. “Under our act, we have an avenue to set up partnership committee that comprises stakeholders, then we chart our masterplan.
“We will use the partnership committee to push that one forward so that it becomes more inclusive in nature,” said John.
Meanwhile, Medan explained in detail about how they are improving daily operations with the aim to give the best service to customers.
“We welcome this session as it adds on what we are doing on our bilateral basis with all our customers,” he said, adding that the townhall meeting could guide them in strategising future plans especially for the next 30 years.
For the last 30 years, he said Bintulu port has been the largest port in the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, East Asean Growth Area ( BIMP-EAGA).
“We shouldn’t be happy with that achievement, we want to be like other ports, in terms of performance, so we have to set our standard much higher, to be a world class port operator, generate much larger turnover for our fi nancial performance, so that we join the other big ports in the country and in the region,” said Medan.
All these years, he said Bintulu port had been supporting the oil and gas and other industries in Sarawak and continued expanding and transforming to meet the requirements of the time.
“Yes we need to be demand driven, proactive and participate due to the changes that come along and the new way of doing things,” he added.
When asked about the issues that were highlighted by the stakeholders during the session, Medan said they were related to issues on operational excellence.
“We have responded to these questions and we will continue to improve our operations.
“In any operation there are bound to be issues of this nature. What is important is that we engage with the stakeholders to resolve issues faster and in efficient ways to the satisfaction of all customers,” Medan added.