KUCHING: State Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen welcomes the announcement by Kuching Port Authority (KPA) that the collection of ‘Channel Maintenance Recovery Charges’ will be deferred after he voiced his objection to the move in the media on June 29.
“As always, it was only the DAP objecting to the said charges on behalf of the people. Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) just kept quiet about it, afraid to object to any of the state government’s policy until the green light is given by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem,” Chong, who is Bandar Kuching MP, claimed in a press statement yesterday.
Chong, who is also Kota Sentosa assemblyman, said this was again proof of an effective opposition which saved Sarawakians an estimated RM11 million for the one-year period starting from June 1.
According to him, when it was first announced in June, the charges were to take effect from June 1 this year and the rates were to be RM36.25 per Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) — RM36.25 per 20 ft container and RM72.50 per 40 ft container — and RM1.00 per tonne on loose cargo.
This additional charge constitutes approximately a 20 per cent increase in port charges on cargo shipment, he added.
Chong said while it was good that shippers were now spared the said charges, there was still no justification for KPA to start collecting the charge from June 1 next year.
“Firstly, the channel is public infrastructure. The government has a duty to maintain it, just like roads and drains. The shippers have already paid port charges and taxes to the government. As such, there should not be another extra 20 per cent in charges for the maintenance of the channel.
“Secondly, the channel deepening project is only slated to be completed by 2019. Therefore, KPA should not start its collection of the said charges before the project is completed. Thirdly, transportation cost on goods to and from Sarawak is a lot higher than the transportation cost on goods to and from West Malaysia.
“Such high transportation costs are not only hurting the general Sarawakian consumers but also hurting our small and medium enterprise industry. The State Government should not add further costs on top of the already high transportation costs in Sarawak.”
He therefore called on the state government to cancel the Channel Maintenance Recovery Charges in toto, not just deferring it to June 1, 2017, adding that KPA should also refund the ‘Channel Maintenance Recovery Charges’ collected from forwarding and shipping companies.