Abolishment of cabotage policy for the betterment of Sarawak: Awang Tengah

KUCHING: The abolishment of the national cabotage policy is fair and timely for the benefit of entrepreneurs and the people in Sarawak in particular, said State Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship, Trade and Investment Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.
Awang Tengah, who is also Sarawak Resource Planning and Environment Minister II said the removal of the policy would facilitate entrepreneurs and the community in Sarawak to acquire goods directly from abroad and avoid paying exorbitant prices, as was the case presently.
According to Awang Tengah, the current cabotage policy required all ships carrying import and export goods to transit in Port Klang, and this led to certain goods being subjected to double taxation.
Due to this, consumers in the state had to pay higher prices than those in Peninsular Malaysia.
"Sarawak Chief Minister (Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg) wants the cabotage policy to be abolished, and has made a proposal to the Federal government," Awang Tengah told reporters after officiating the launch ceremony of a business matching seminar organised by the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia here, today.
Awang Tengah added that the policy's abolition was appropriate as Sarawak had already developed several of its own ports in addition to enhancing its industries, especially wood-based industries, as well as employment intensive and plantation industries under the initiative Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) initiative.
He said merchant ships could now dock at the ports of Tanjung Manis and Samalaju and when sailing out from the port, could carry goods for exports from Sarawak.
"Earlier, the reason (for having the policy) was the lack of goods or products from Sarawak to be carried out by vessels coming to the state, but now it is no longer a relevant excuse as the state now has a lot of goods or products such as plywood, electronic and agricultural products to be shipped to export markets, " he explained.
As such, hoped the Federal government would expedite the approval to abolish the policy to ensure continued economic development in Sarawak. — Bernama