MANAGING DERETOR…..Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Zinin
LABUAN: Megah Port Management Sdn Bhd (MPM Sdn. Bhd) yesterday refuted claims about port charges being higher than before MPM Managing Director Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Bin Mohd Zinin said, “While we value all opinions and suggestions towards making Labuan Liberty Terminal a prominent port in the region, we see a need to immediately address certain inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims made towards the port management. Contrary to the allegations, we have not imposed any increments to the charges and fees ever since we took over the management of the port.”
As announced previously, MPM had made the first move to waive all Wharfage and Berthing charges in light of the COVID-19 impact on its clients. Until today, the Company has not yet collected any of these charges, and it does not intend to do so before discussing terms at the upcoming town hall session.
“During such an unprecedented time when economic activity has slowed down due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) and COVID-19, it would make sense for a company to cut back on its capital expenditure but we have done the complete opposite.
“ Up until end of July, we have invested RM6.3 million into infrastructure improvements at Labuan Liberty Terminal despite a reduction of approximately 35% in cargo volume. Our stakeholders and port users have seen and appreciated our efforts, and we have received positive feedback in return” he said.
When approached for comments, several shipping agents, freight forwarders and logistics providers were willing to back MPM’s refutation of the recent complaints.
It is important to note that the combined ships of these representatives make up 95% of Labuan Port’s imported cargo from places such as Singapore, Brunei and Port Klang.
Labuan Station Manager Jerry Hii from Crane Worldwide Logistics said this: “Crane Worldwide Logistics has been a port user of Labuan Liberty Terminal since 2015, and I have not seen any of the alleged price hikes since the new operator took over.
“We had large volumes of materials coming in from Singapore and Brunei recently, and if there were any changes in our logistics costs it would have been reflected in our financial statements.
“On the contrary, service has improved significantly, and MPM’s quick actions to improve port efficiency have also bee” he said.
