Bintulu Port marks 30th anniversary

0

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Hamdan (second right) cuts the 30th anniversary cake as other senior officers of BPA look on.

BINTULU: Bintulu Port, which was inaugurated on August 15, 1981 under the Bintulu Port Authority Act 1981, celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday at Menara Kidurong.

Its general manager Hamdan Abdul Hamid pledged that his team will strive to ensure the port continue to develop, and generate greater investment.

As the authority and regulator of the port, he said Bintulu Port Authority (BPA) is committed to its vision and mission to make Bintulu Port (BP) one of the most efficient, safe and profitable ports in the region.

BP, one of the most modern and efficient multipurpose ports in South East Asia, commenced its operations on January 1, 1983.

Hamdan added that although the port started operating in early 1979, its success, growth and history were only recorded from 1983.

“During the early days, the port had limited facilities as it was only built for small operations.

“After 30 years, the BPA management and BPSB (Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd) added additional facilities and continued developing the port, and  currently we have some 15 new facilities introduced through various investments worth more than RM2.5 billion,” he said in his opening speech to officiate the ceremony.

He pointed out that the heavy industries in Bintulu, including the port operations, had transformed what was once a small town to a vibrant and developed area.

Hamdan also traced the early days of BPA, which is a federal statutory body under the Ministry of Transport Malaysia, when it had more than 800 employees.

“However with the privatisation in 1993 the number of employees was decreased to only 22. Within 17 years being privatised, there was a need to enhance the capacity of the port and in the 1990s the number of employees was 42 and now 82 employees.

“We try to transform the port to be the best in the region through close cooperation with BPSB to increase business operations and services,” he said.

In 1983, he said, the port received about 1,000 shipments and the number had increased last year to 7,700 shipments.

He also said during its first operations BP handled less than five million tonnes of cargo, and the volume increased to 42 million tonnes last year.

However, he anticipated the volume to decrease this year due to the uncertain global economic climate.

BPA was incorporated on December 23, 1992 with its responsibilities covering the development, administration, marketing and provision of adequate and efficient port services aimed at making BP the main port and most efficient transport and distribution centre in the BIMP-EAGA region.

BP is an international port which is strategically located in north-east Sarawak along the route between the Far East and Europe.

It is the main gateway for export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Malaysia.

BP also offers modern and state-of-the art facilities and equipment for handling of containers, liquid and dry bulk cargo and general cargo.

As of January 1 1993, the operations of the port were privatised under the Ports Privatisation Act 1990, in line with the national privatisation policy.

With that, BPA has licensed a port operation company Bintulu Port Sdn. Bhd (BPSB) to carry out port operation services and related functions at BP.

Following the privatisation, BPA was restructured and in line with its main functions as a regulatory body, it is entrusted with the task of overseeing all operations at the port, such as controlling the tariff policy, development of the port and ensuring safety in port operations.