LABUAN: The Labuan Port Authority (LPA) has denied that the request for proposals (RFP) or open tender of the Labuan containerised port of the Labuan Liberty Wharf was “merely a formality”.
Its general manager, Zulkurnain Ayubsaid the open RFP is an important process to ensure transparency.
“It is not a simple ‘tender’ where we choose someone who can comply with a set of requirements. Here, we open it up so that interested parties can propose whatever they think is best on how to run the port but bearing in mind that the contract is only for six years.
“As such, they need to balance between their investment into the port, the operating cost and financial sustainability,” he said in a statement from Bintulu to the media in Labuan yesterday.
Zulkurnain, who is also one of the LPA board members cum LPA general manager, was responding to Labuan Chinese Chamber of Commerce (LCCC) chairman Datuk Wong Kii Yii’s remarks in a local daily on Aug 8 that the procedure was upsetting and that interested parties were hardly given enough time to prepare their proposals as the closing date for tenders is Aug 22.
“It is only a six-year port management contract and not as big as Wong had imagined,” Zulkurnain said, adding that this was not the first time since its establishment in 2017 that the LPA conducted an RFP to seek a suitable operator for the Liberty wharf.
Zulkurnain, who is also Bintulu Port Authority general manager, said despite the Aug 22 deadline, the LPA had already received proposals since Aug 15 from several interested companies that attended the site visit on Aug 13.
He said those who were truly interested in running the port would already have ideas in mind and only needed to put them in writing, and perhaps these companies have already started drafting their proposals before the site visit.
“It has never been a secret the current occupier of the Labuan Liberty Wharf, Labuan Liberty Port Management Sdn Bhd (LLPM), was only granted a land lease which is currently on a month-to-month renewal basis.
“LLPM does not have a port operating concession, and that LPA eventually would have to appoint a port operator to run the liberty wharf on a more conducive platform.
“Furthermore, the nine-day limit is not true because the tender was out since Aug 8 and the tender period is for 21 days. Nevertheless, the tender is extended to Sept 3, 2019,” Zulkurnain said.
On claims that there were no further details such as who would be responsible for the wharf, warehouses and infrastructure repair, Zulkurnain said this was intentionally left out as it is an existing problem, as the LPA wants to allow bidders to propose the solution, and state clearly what kind of repair and/or facility upgrading required to make the port efficient.
Thanking the LCCC for their concerns, he hopes in future the LCCC would seek clarification from the LPA on port matters before going to the press. — Bernama