By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Jan 1: Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (BPSB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd, has entered into its third Interim Agreement (IA) with the Ministry of Transport and the Bintulu Port Authority (BPA) for a 12-month extension of operations at Bintulu Port.
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, Bintulu Port confirmed that the extension will cover the period from Jan 1, 2025, to Dec 31, 2025, or until the enactment of the Federal Port (Abolition) Act 2024 and the Bintulu Port Authority (Abolition) Act 2024, whichever comes first.
In a news report by TVS, BPSB had earlier signed an initial IA with the government and BPA to continue Bintulu Port operations under an interim period (IP) of six months, from Jan 1, 2023, to June 30, 2023.
This was followed by a second IA, extending the IP for another 12 months from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, and a further six-month extension until Dec 31, 2024.
As part of the 2024 federal budget, the government agreed to transfer regulatory control of Bintulu Port to the Sarawak government, reclassifying it as a State port through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on March 22, 2024, to streamline the transition process.
The Ministry of Transport has tabled the related legislation in Parliament, with both the Federal Port (Abolition) Bill 2024 and the Bintulu Port Authority (Abolition) Bill 2024 now approved.
“Currently, the Sarawak government, BPA (Sarawak), and BPSB are finalising the Port Operations Agreement for the appointment of BPSB as the operator once Bintulu Port becomes a State port under Sarawak’s jurisdiction,” the statement added. — DayakDaily
