“From what he was saying, the Minister obviously did not understand the issue raised repeatedly by the business communities in Sabah on the cabotage policy which was introduced since 1980! And for him to say that we do not understand the cabotage policy is really belittling Malaysians in Sabah!”
Businesses in Sabah have to incur higher costs due to the extra shipping costs which they have to incur due to the implementation of the cabotage policy. This policy has directly and indirectly resulted in the higher costs of goods for Malaysians in Sabah. It is also a policy which trade associations, especially exporters in the State, put their fingers on for increasing the prices of exports from Sabah to oversea countries rendering our goods not competitive to vie with competitors overseas.
The Transport Minister should at least have meetings and discussions with the trade associations in the State before he made such utterance which hurts the intelligence of the people in Sabah. As the minister in charge of transportation policy in the country, it is unthinkable that he does not seem to know the request of the business community on the subject of the cabotage policy! He should resign and discharge himself and the duties and responsibilities as the Transport Minister if he does not know his job!
Melanie further reiterated that the Minister should stop protecting the few companies privy in the national shipping industry. As a result of this, Malaysian in Sabah not have to pay for more expensive goods and our manufacturers who export to oversea markets having a tougher time in competition because of their higher prices.
SAPP wants the cabotage policy to be abolished so that all vessels, be it Malaysians or foreign, to be able to call at all ports in Malaysia. Sabah would be able to benefit from this especially with the strategic location of Kota Kinabalu in the Far East. If the Federal Government is serious in the development of Sabah, it should consider the plea of the business community without further delay.
Barisan Najis running by a bunch of monkeys and how do we expect them to solve our problem?
ReplyDeleteFurther more, all the party malaya UMNO and PR are the same and they only interested in malaya issue but treat Sabahan like an idiot all this while.
PR hanya tahu mengambil kesempatan atas isu2 rakyat sabah untuk kepentingan mereka..
DeleteBiasalah dorang hanya jadi tukang highlight, yang kasi selesai tu kerajaan juga nanti. hehe
DeleteBetul tu, tukang buat isu, lepas tu mau kerajaan kasih selesai dengan segera.cuba bagi mereka yang selesaikan, belum tentu dapat.
DeleteBN always serious for nation or any states....don't understand why SAPP left without staying back persistently to discuss with Putrajaya!!!
ReplyDeleteCapable one should consider becoming MP candidate to serve people....um...what a waste?
SAPP ada agenda mereka sendiri...
DeleteBN sentiasa membantu rakyat dan memahami keperluan rakyat.
DeleteSabahans have been ill-treated by those party malaya politikus and the so called federal minister which in fact they should change their portfolio to minister for malaya instead of Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteko kong cho wa again!
DeleteThe Cabotage policy does not prevent foreign ships from making direct call at any port in Malaysia from any port in the world. This means that after calling at Port Klang, the same ship can visit Sabah to unload and upload cargo before continuing its international destinations.
ReplyDeletejadi kenapa harga barangan di sabah jauh lebih mahal daripada semenanjung?
Deletepolisi kabotaj yang tidak memanfaatkan rakyat sabah harus dimansuhkan..
ReplyDeleteBetul tu max. Daripada rakyat asyik mengeluh bagus mansuhkan saja senang cerita:P hahahhaa
DeleteJika tidak memberi sebarang keaikan kepada rakyat lebih baik di mansuhkan sahaja.
Deleteundilah dengan bijak pada pru13 nanti..
ReplyDeleteItu sajalah peluang terakhir yang rakyat ada:)
DeleteKadang-kadang kan saya rasa sapp ni mcm ada niat disebalik saja... Tapi takpa biarlah mereka teruskan perjuangan mereka :)
ReplyDeleteSAPP memang ada niat di sebaliknya tu. YTL mahu jd CM Sabah lagi.
DeleteSuka buat isu panas, pasti ada agenda sendiri.
DeleteJusteru, rakyat harus berdepan dengan segala macam kemungkinan dan pastikan kita tidak mudah terpengaruh dengan mana-mana pihak.
ReplyDeleteGovt was fully aware of complaints that the policy was stifling the State economic growth, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Govt want every part of the country to grow economically and that is why the ministry need to look into these issues.
ReplyDeleteCabotage policy isn’t necessarily the cause of increase in prices of goods.
ReplyDeleteI presume other factors like increase in oil could have led to changes in prices of goods.
ReplyDeleteThere is need to properly carry out several measures to study this issue.
ReplyDeleteInvestigating the matter will help resolve problems due to price increment.
DeleteI hope the government will do something about this concern.
ReplyDeletepolisi ini byk menimbulkan rasa tidak puas hati rama pihak, sebaiknya polisi ini dikaji semula.
ReplyDeleteHarap polisi ini akan di kaji semua agar semua pihak berpuas hati.
ReplyDeleteMengenai polisi ini rasanya sudah diterima oleh pihak berkenaan dan akan membuat kajian lebih bagi menepati permintaan ramai.
ReplyDeleteSaya ada dengan COOP1M yang akan dilaksanakan. COOP1M ini akan menetapkan harga yang sama dengan apa yang ada di Semenanjung. Mungkin ini satu langkah yang dapat menjawap mengenai polisi tersebut.
ReplyDeleteIts up to the Federal whether to give what we want or not. But they must be, be prepared for the things that might happen in the coming GE.
ReplyDeleteon the claim that the cabotage policy had resulted in the high prices of goods in east Malaysia compared to the peninsula, it was evident that the prices of consumer goods had not gone down in tandem with the current lower freight rates and that the cause of this must be investigated by the relevant government agencies.
ReplyDeleteIt is better to discuss with the Ministry of Transport ways to reduce the freight charges for cargo from Port Klang to Sabah instead of debating on the cabotage policy.
ReplyDeleteBoth Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan and Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Edward Khoo agreed that the issue at hand was the cargo and freight charges. "The Minister must find out from the operators, the industry players, it is not the ship, it is the cargo.
DeleteSo let's look further and find out if it is the problem with the cargo.
Delete"What is the meaning of already liberalised if you have problems connected to cabotage. To me it is liberalised, it is open," said Tan when met after the State Assembly adjournment, Thursday.
DeleteTan said he had discussed with the Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) on the issue before and that the KK Port is already liberalised, meaning foreign ships can come.
Delete"The issue here is the cargo. Foreign ships do not carry domestic cargo," he said.
DeleteHe said cabotage is a law under the Shipping Act and if it was to be amended, it must go through the proper procedures in Parliament.
ReplyDelete"It is not a practice or a policy, it is a law. And the Minister can help to liberalise, that means the cabotage under the law will not be applicable to certain destinations, which in this case I think the Ministry of Transport has liberalised.
ReplyDelete"KK and Sepanggar are liberalised ports. But the issue is on the cargo, then we have to work with the ministry and (FSM President) Datuk Wong Khen Thau to find out what sort of cargo they are talking about.
ReplyDelete"Is it that the foreign ships cannot carry domestic container or just foreign containers?" he asked.
ReplyDelete"The Minister can actually help. Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha is right, it is already liberalised but maybe he wants to know from the industry players if it is the cargo they are worried about," he said. Tan said it was a different issue altogether if a foreign ship calling on Port Klang was just carrying domestic goods to Sabah and if it was carrying goods coming from Hong Kong or China. Tan said there is no more cabotage in Sepanggar Port.
ReplyDelete"The foreign ship can carry anything, the only thing I'm not sure is what kind of cargo they are talking about. Is there a condition saying that foreign ships cannot carry domestic containers?
ReplyDeleteThat is what the Minister has to look into," he said.
ReplyDeleteOn the request by FSM that Sabah be given 25 years tax exemption in compensation of the implementation of the cabotage policy, Tan said it was illogical.
ReplyDelete"I cannot see the logic on this proposal because the Government has been promoting investment and already gives incentives to any investor.
ReplyDeleteThis is a standard programme.
"All investors in KKIP or POIC for example, they are already given tax incentives on pioneer status. They are given even better incentive packages through MITI, MIDA which include the training of their workers and site preparations.
ReplyDelete"That is why now the figure of investors coming into Sabah is going up.
ReplyDeleteSabah is doing well, we in 2011 already have small and big investors coming into Sabah accumulating an investment value of RM1.1 billion, and this is not taking into account oil and gas which would amount to billions of ringgit," he said.
ReplyDeleteTan said investments and businesses coming in were not a problem and when more people were coming in to invest it means they have confidence that the system in Sabah was working. "We look at it very seriously.
ReplyDeleteI think the Transport Minister can help, maybe he can come and sit down with the business community. I will be happy to be with the Minister to sit down with the business community and highlight issues.
ReplyDelete"We do that every year with the Minister of Trade.
ReplyDeleteWe sit down and discuss but it is not something we fight about in the newspapers," he said.
ReplyDeleteKhoo said Tan pointed out there was some misunderstanding as to where the problem is.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, he also fully supported the stand by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan asking the Federal Government to temporarily suspend the cabotage policy to Sabah.
ReplyDeleteKhoo said back in 2009, he was the one who brought the State's stakeholders like Wong to meet with the previous Transport Minister in Parliament, which resulted in the partial liberalisation of the cabotage policy allowing foreign vessels carrying cargo to Port Klang to also come to Sabah.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Khoo who is Sabah MCA Chief said he was told there were about eight or nine domestic shipping companies carrying domestic cargo to Sabah and importers claimed they are overcharging.
ReplyDelete"The freight charges are very high, I think the Ministry of Transport should look into this also," he said when met outside the State Assembly.
ReplyDelete"The gist of the problem is that we are paying unusually high freight charges from Port Klang to Sabah. So whether it is a temporary suspension of the cabotageÉmake the freight charges reasonable for all Sabahans.
ReplyDeleteThat is more important," he said. He said the State Government was very committed in resolving the issue and in fact the Chief Minister had raised the matter in the Cabinet as well as post Cabinet meetings to be discussed.
ReplyDelete"We request the Ministry of Transport to also try to control the freight charges to Sabah. Make it reasonable. We leave it to the Federal Government to find a way to regulate the freight charges," he said.
ReplyDelete"We agree with the stakeholders it has been too long already that they are paying these extremely high freight charges. I will continue to help the State Government with this. All of us are committed," he said.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk VK Liew said the Transport Minister had given his view but "I do not necessary agree with him".
ReplyDeleteHe said he was fully aware of Kong's statement on the cabotage policy and that it was one of his subjects of concern when he was the Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry (MiTi).
ReplyDelete"I believe there are pros and cons in the issue that we need to actually address.
ReplyDelete"I think there is room where we need to handle the situation for the benefit of the Sabah people. There are issues in the cabotage policy not favourable to us.
ReplyDelete"We need to sit down because this cabotage policy is a Federal matter that we need to address at that level. Datuk Wong has also visited Miti and me during my time as the Deputy Minister in Miti and I fully symphatised with him and also the grievances faced by the people of Sabah.
ReplyDelete"We will have to look into the concept of cabotage policy, whether it is still relevant to the needs of Sabah," said Liew, who is also President of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
ReplyDelete"We cannot decide on this unilaterally. We need to sit down to come out with the best solution that benefits both sides. This has been going on for far too long," he said after opening the LDP West Coast Operations Room in Taipan, Inanam near here, Thursday.
ReplyDelete"In any form of policy there is bound to be pros and cons, you cannot simply set it aside and say this is no good. Otherwise how can it be around for so long?" he asked.
ReplyDelete