TEBEDU: Some 100 farmers, villagers and traders residing near the new Tebedu border township held a peaceful demonstration here against charges imposed by SM Inland Port yesterday.
They were protesting against the establishment of the port managed by the Port Klang Management group which they claimed had imposed extra charges on their goods.
Because of the extra charges many businesses at this border area had folded, they claimed for the 500 families in Tebedu area, these problems were compounded by unemployment and social ills especially among the youth, said a trader who wished to remain anonymous.
He added that roads linking Tebedu to Indonesia had encouraged tourists from the neigbouring country to come over to Sarawak.
“This had in fact contributed to economic boom as our goods compared to the Indonesia goods are a little bit cheaper but with the extra port charges, the prices of our goods are as competitive as that of the Indonesian goods,”
This, he said, would slowly stifle their businesses and discourage tourists from Indonesia from coming to the state.
He added that traders here were paying double port charges at the Senari Port in Kuching and again at the SM Inland Port here.
Aside from double taxation, traders in Tebedu need to pay extra for loading and unloading fees and custom declaration fees.
The loading and unloading at the border check point are tedious and caused damage to fragile goods and frozen food.
“SM Inland Port must understand all this as the burden is on us, not on them,” he said.
He added that traders here preferred using the old roads to Indonesia where they need not pay extra charges for services and the port charges.
He also complained that Tebedu was supposed to be a Free Trade Zone just like any checkpoints in the country where charges are not necessary at all.
He called on relevant authorities to look into their predicament.