KUCHING, March 21: Ministry of Infrastructure and Port Development (MIPD) will look into Miri Port’s shallow river passageway problem at Kuala Baram, adversely affecting its growth and potential.
Its Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said he would follow up on the long-standing issue to see how to best solve it.
According to Uggah, although dredging had long been suggested as a solution, the approach needed to be more holistic and strategic for long-term effectiveness.
“It is unfortunate as we have an RM250-million investment here, yet ships have to anchor along the Miri River.
“We will convey this to Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg for his advice. We have to have a political will to find a way to solve this problem,” he said after attending a briefing on Miri Port’s activities, developments, and constraints given by Miri Port Authority (MPA) general manager Serawa Budol at the port building, yesterday.
The shallow river passageway restricts the entry of vessels of more than three-metre draft to ply and call at its terminal complex.
It has hampered the growth of industries within the 3,000-acre Kuala Baram Industrial Estate (KBIE) and its vast hinterland and affected the port delivery services.
Uggah said that big ships, particularly the mainline operators, could come to Miri Port when this problem is solved.
“They will bring investments, increase business opportunities, and create jobs, and this will fit in nicely with Sarawak’s objective to be a developed state by 2030,” he said.
He added the onus was now on the management to be creative, innovative, and visionary in seizing opportunities to generate income.
Meanwhile, Uggah also reminded all port managements to ensure whatever services provided would be top-notch quality.
He said now Sarawak is competing with ports in Labuan, Peninsular Malaysia, and others, and they (port management) have to keep up to compete.
“You have to be creative, innovative and have the latest technology. My ministry will give you the support because now we are looking at the overall position of our ports.
“We are looking at the capabilities, capacity, and so forth. In other words, we will relook into the overall port policy in Sarawak.
“We have to move away from the traditional way of managing our ports, maybe privatise them as most privatised ports are doing very well,” he said. — DayakDaily
