“THE MAIN FACTORS THAT CAUSE THE HIGH COST OF LIVING IN SABAH ARE THE HIGH COST OF MARINE INSURANCE, INEFFICIENCY OF THE CONTAINER LOADING PROCESS, GROUND TRANSPORTATION COST AND SHIPPING AGENT COST,” - BAKRI

Cabotage policy not cause of high living cost, says deputy minister

KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri refuted claims that the cabotage policy is the cause of the high cost of living in the state.He said in 2009, his ministry issued 2,356 shipping licences to domestic shipping companies compared to 2,245 licenses to foreign owned ships.

“Based on the number of licenses issued, the government had not practised cabotage without looking into the effects and benefits as claimed by certain people,” he said.

According to Rahim, if there is demand by foreign companies to operate their shipping services directly to Sabah and Sarawak, the ministry would not block it.

“At the moment, certain foreign shipping companies from Hong Kong and Singapore are sailing directly to Sabah and Sarawak without passing through Port Klang or Port Tanjung Pelepas,” he said.

He was commenting on claims by the Federation of Sabah Manufacturers that the cabotage policy and or shipping charges are the cause of the high cost of living in Sabah.

Rahim pointed out that most large foreign mother vessels would choose Port Klang and Port Tanjung Pelepas because they are the main container terminals and centre of shipping activities.

“Sabah and Sarawak ports do not have enough container volume and export products to attract more mother vessels to these states,” he said.

He said claims that the existing shipping policy is the cause of the high price of items in Sabah and Sarawak is not true.

“The main factors that cause the high cost of living in Sabah are the high cost of marine insurance, inefficiency of the container loading process, ground transportation cost and shipping agent cost,” he said.

Recently, chairman of the Malaysia Shipowners’ Association (Masa), Ir Nordin Mat Yusoff, refuted claims by the Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) that the cabotage policy and shipping charges are the cause of the high cost of living in Sabah.