POIC LAHAD DATU CAN BE THE ROTTERDAM OF THE EAST

DEAL …. Madius receiving a memento from Captain Ting in commemoration of the maiden docking of the Shin Yang vessel at the container port

LAHAD DATU: It had looked so very near, yet so far.  It seemed straight forward, yet nothing moved. Until today.

“I am happy; I am sad. This indeed is a small step for Lahad Datu, one giant leap for Sabah,” said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau.

“I feel happy for Datuk Dr Pang (Teck Wai) and POIC Lahad Datu. Today I share their joy. At the same time, I wish to say sorry because all seemed on track especially after 23 October last year…. But only now it happens. It was too long a wait; all the facilities had been in place for more than a year,” he added.

“Let this be the beginning, the birth of the Rotterdam of the East. I purposely come here to see this historic event,” he said, adding, “I sincerely believe this port will bring Sabah to greater heights. This will propel Sabah to become an industrialised State by 2030.”

The Minister of Trade and Industry said this to the press after witnessing the historic docking of 17224 DWT MV Danum 172, the first container vessel to dock at the purpose-built POIC Container Terminal here.

The vessel is owned by Shin Yang Shipping Corporation (SYSCorp), a Sarawak-based diversified shipping and logistics company.

The vessel brought in nine 40 footer containers and took out nine 20 footer containers.

Madius said, “Despite untiring and intensive efforts from POIC and MTI, the port was not able to function fully, mainly due to bureaucracy and resistance from within the government itself. I really hope we have since sailed past troubled waters.”

He was expecting all the requirements to be made available soonest especially the legal landing place license which was promised by the Ministry of Finance, Putrajaya last week.  The Sabah government had agreed for the POIC Lahad Datu to become a full fledge port on the 23 October 2018.

There were also delay in the issuance of a master title for its Phase Three land, while power and water supplies were still unstable.

“We are all anxiously waiting for everything to be in place so that POIC could live up to its potential. It was said a long time ago that due to its location and natural settings especially its depth of more than 20 metres, we could be the Rotterdam of the East,” he said.

Meanwhile, the POIC Lahad Datu chief operating officer Dr Pang said, the creation of out-going cargo was important because Sabah has always been paying more for shipping as containers were going out empty.

He said the event today was an endorsement from a major shipper, while confirming that the port has connected all the dots in shipping and logistics required for industrialisation.

SYSCorp Chief Executive Officer, Captain Ting Hien Liong, said his company was proud to be the first to call at the POIC Container Terminal.

Dr Pang said, POIC Lahad Datu, a state-owned company, was set up in 2005 to spearhead palm oil-based downstream industry, and has been promoting its port as a logistics hub leveraging on the growth of global shipping via the Lombok-Makassar shipping route which passes by Lahad Datu.

Among those present at the event were MTI’s assistant ministers Ben Chong and Azhar Haji Datuk Matussin, the ministry’s permanent secretary Datuk Madiyem Layapan and Commercial Manager of North Port (Malaysia), Alvin Geoffrey Alphonso.

The containers today belonged to Wilmar Fertilizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Sabah Softwoods Hybrid Fertilizer.

Shin Yang is North Port key East Malaysian carrier.