Penang Port to move
BUTTERWORTH: The 224-year-old Penang Port, the oldest in the country, may be relocated to a more suitable location if the Transport Ministry accepts suggestions by port users.
Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said many felt it would be wise to relocate the port to cater for future expansion plans. However, he said the relocation of a port was not something that could be done with the stroke of a pen.
“We need to look at the pros and cons, as well as the input from all quarters,” he said after a dialogue with Penang Port users here yesterday.
Penang Freight Forwarders Association president Krishnan Chelliah said the new port may not necessarily be located in Penang. “Anywhere in the northern part of Malaysia should be acceptable,” he said.
He said a new venue for Penang Port, which was set up by Sir Francis Light, the founder of Penang in 1786, was needed as there was hardly any space left for expansion. He also said it was not economically justifiable to spend huge amounts of money on dredging activities, which did not provide a permanent solution to the long standing draft problem.
“If we want to erase the general perception that the Penang Port is merely a feeder port, big vessels should then be encouraged to call on the port. But these big vessels would require a draft of about 15m deep,” he said, adding that the current depth was maintained at 11.5m.
At another function in Salak Tinggi, Ong told Malaysian air carriers to focus on enhancing their level of on-time performance and quality of service instead of quarrelling over routes. He said they should leave matters concerning routes to the Government.
Ong was commenting of the tiff between Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia over the Kuala Lumpur-Sydney route. The former already flies the sector and is adamant that the latter should not be allowed to also operate the route.
Guan Eng vows to fight attempts to move out Penang Port
By DAVID TAN and ANDREA FILMER
andrea@thestar.com.my
GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has vowed to fight tooth-and-nail against any move to relocate the Penang Port to another venue or state.
Commenting on Transport Minis-ter Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat's statement that the port might be relocated to facilitate future expansion plans, Lim said it was an act of bet-rayal to the people of Penang.
“Any quarter who tries to relocate Penang Port to another venue or state, or even suggests it, is anti-Penang,” Lim told a press conference at the Penang Development CorÂporation yesterday.
He said a relocation of the port would significantly affect existing industries in Penang.
He has ordered his office to get a detailed explanation on the proposed plan.
Commenting on the same issue, Penang Chinese Chamber of Com-merce president Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping said the money spent on up-grading the infrastructure would go to waste if Butterworth Container Terminal and Prai Bulk Cargo Ter-minal, both part of Penang Port, were relocated.
He admitted that there was a need for an additional terminal to cater for bigger vessels, but believed it could be built in the state.
The chamber's transport chairman Wong Yim Fatt said there were suitable locations in Penang for an additional terminal.
“In 1953, the British produced a report that Gertak Sanggul, which has a deep sea-bed, was a suitable site to have a port,” Wong said.
North Malaysia Shipping Agents' Association president Franco Ong also said if the new terminal was located outside Penang, then the container depots at the industrial estates would need to be shifted.
Penang Freight Forwarders' Association president Krishnan Chelliah said it was acceptable for a new terminal to be located within a 75km to 80km radius of the container and bulk cargo terminals.
“In Johor, the Port of Tanjung Pelepas is also about 80km from Pasir Gudang Port, and it is not causing problems,” he said.
Relocating Penang Port an act of betrayal ?
GEORGE TOWN (May 7, 2010): The Penang government has described any suggestion or move for the 224-year-old Penang Port, now under the total jurisdiction of the federal government, to be relocated out of the state as an “act of betrayal to the people of Penang”.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state is willing to take over the port’s management to address problems and issues being raised to justify claims that the port should be relocated.
“Any party that tries to replace the port is adopting an anti-Penang stance,” he said. “It is an act of betrayal to the people of Penang.”
He stressed that the port, built soon after the British first settled in Penang in 1786, has profound historical links to the state.
“We consider any suggestion to move the port as anti-Penang…We want the person who suggested this to explain,” he said at a press conference at the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) today.
“Penang Port is making money, not losing money. So why is this an issue now?”
He also warned that moving the port out would have significant impact on industries, including the high-tech ones, that are heavily concentrated in the state.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat had said yesterday that the ministry has received feedback for the port to be moved from its current location at the North Butterworth Container Terminal.
Speaking during a dialogue with Penang Port customers and operators, Ong said the idea was among several that would be considered in drafting the
port’s masterplan for 2011 to 2030.
Krishnan Chelliah, president of Penang Freight Forwarders Association (PFFA), had raised the issue of large vessels not being able to enter the port, in reportedly stressing that the port could therefore be relocated to a more suitable site anywhere else in northern Malaysia.
Krishnan noted that the current depth of the Penang Channel at 11.5m was insufficient for large vessels which require a draft of about 15m.
He also noted that there was not enough space left for the port’s expansion, and dredging projects to increase the channel’s depth were expensive.
When contacted today, Krishnan maintained his stand and said the view he had expressed was that of PFFA. “If the dredging cost balloons to billions
of dollar, then experts need to look at the situation from a different dimension,” he said.
“We should look into going to a different place...There is so much public money being spent (on dredging),” he added.
“You ask the chief minister does he want Penang to remain a feeder port?”
He declined to say more as he did not want to be drawn into a media exchange with the chief minister, but will elaborate if he gets a letter from Lim’s office.Is relocation of Penang Port the right call?
Read more: Is relocation of Penang Port the right call? http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/mon9/Article/#ixzz0na1SRFgn
There has been more than one instance in the past decade, when the issue of relocating the Penang International Airport on Penang island to less "strategic" locations was raised.
And each time the matter was brought up by either politicians or businessmen, very strong reactions to the subject have followed, since it appears that not very strong cases have been put forward when arguments were made for the proposed relocation.
In the usual policy statement issues to test the waters, followed by a chain of statements from affected stakeholders arguing why the move should not take place, to letting the argument simply die a natural death, Penang residents can safely say "been there, seen it and done that".
Each time the matter of relocating or closing the international airport came up, it appeared that the economic sense to such a plan had not been fully evaluated, particularly the impact it would have on the manufacturing and tourism sectors, Penang's major revenue earners.
Fast forward to 2010 and all eyes are now trained on Malaysia's oldest port, Penang Port.
Ong was quoted as saying that suggestions for this move came from port users. This statement was backed up by a representative of the freight forwarding industry in Penang by saying that "anywhere in the northern part of Malaysia should be acceptable".
No mention was made on whether all those involved in the running and using of the port have been consulted and whether all parties think this is a good move.
Also silent was the role which is supposed to be played by the port as the logistics centre of the Northern Corridor Economic Region.
It also did not appear as if the tourism sector has been consulted on the possible move to relocate the port, which in the past year, has seen increased activity in the form of multiple economic spinoffs to the state.
The question being asked now is: Is the move to relocate the port simply a knee-jerk reaction to some dissatisfaction by certain quarters over less than satisfactory services experienced at the port, or have some serious discussions, feasibility studies and alternative sites identified before this, before the statement was issued?
When Penang island lost its free-trade port status in the 60s, many residents of the island state, whose livelihoods depended solely on the port status had to "shift gears" and make rapid adjustments.
It was a very painful time for those who waited with bated breath and hoped that the policy would be reviewed.
This was prior to the revocation of the duty-free status, Penang had thrived on its barter trade with Medan and Singapore, while attracting a fair share of tourists and bargain shoppers.
The economic fortunes of the state took a turn for the better when Penang began enjoying the boon from domestic and foreign investments, earning itself the title "Silicon of the East".
Many of Penang's investors - which comprise some of the world's top multinational corporations - are still here today, because of the many facilities offered to them such as skilled labour and infrastructure like the airport and port.
Also to be considered is the fact that Penang's position as a preferred port of call for luxury cruise liners has only been restored this year with the opening of the RM62.9 million Swettenham Pier.
The busload of tourists being shuttled to eateries, hotels and other attractions on the island cannot be missed on days that the big ships drop anchor or berth at the port.
The issue of repeated dredging, which is needed at the port to accommodate all types of vessels, is one which should have been addressed and made provisions for a long time ago.
All hopes are now being placed on the federal government to follow through with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin's pledge in April for a financial allocation for a proposed dredging scheme of the Penang channel in the upcoming 10th Malaysia Plan.
The RM322 million project was shelved under the Ninth Malaysia Plan mid-term review.
Terminal operator Penang Port Sdn Bhd has been targeting to develop Penang Port into a premier port by 2012 if the deepening of the north channel proceeded.
It is hoped that the fortunes of the state can then come full circle in anchoring itself back on its waterways, which once helped boost its fortunes and fame.
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