Putatan: Government and opposition leaders in the State are united in echoing the Sarawak Government's proposal to abolish the Cabotage Policy, with one Barisan Nasional lawmaker and an opposition representative even calling it a cartel that is being protected by the Federal Government, including to the extent of granting them block exemption.Putatan Member of Parliament Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh admitted he has got fed up with shouting in Parliament about the people's objection to the more than 30-year-old policy, only to hear from the Federal Government that it would be reviewed."They only promised to review and review but until now it has not been reviewed. I have repeatedly voiced it out loudly and I will not stop until they abolish it," he said.
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With the election is nearing, Mojigoh strongly urged the Federal to make a choice between the small group of profiting shipping players or the people in the millions."The cartel that you're protecting under the Cabotage Policy is not going to help you win the election but the people of Sabah," he bluntly said.He refused to accept claims by proponents of the policy that there have been other causes to the higher cost of goods in Sabah and Sarawak."They can justify however they want. They can blame it on rising fuel prices. But why is it when fuel prices go down the cost of goods never go down?
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"The point here is that the people want the policy to be abolished. I'm also echoing the voice of (Sabah industrialist Datuk Seri) Wong Khen Thau who has been calling for the abolishment."We are divided by the South China Sea and as a result people in Sabah have to pay 20 per cent to 30 per cent more for goods that are shipped here," he said.
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Aside from abolishing it, Mojigoh also insisted that the shipping cartel in the country be made to compete with foreign vessels so that prices of goods can be kept low to the benefit of consumers."Let them be competitive. What's wrong with that? After all, we're only talking about a few of them whereas our main concern should be rakyat many of whom are suffering because of the higher goods in Sabah," he said.Mojigoh added that he recently met with Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai who reassured him that he would review the policy.He said the Minister's reply was far from assuring."I urge him to abolish the Cabotage Policy immediately," demanded Mojigoh.Last February, Liow had said the government was reviewing the policy even though the higher cost of goods in Sabah are due to other factors.He said the review will enable further liberalisation "to ensure affordable cost of goods and services.The Sarawak Government on Tuesday proposed to Federal to abolish the cabotage policy which requires all goods to enter the state through Port Klang.Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg reportedly said the time has come for the abolishment of the policy and enable foreign vessels to come as Sarawak now has established international trade and "containerization" facilities.Responding to Abang Johari's statement, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Datuk Teo Chee Kang said in line with the Sabah Government's plan to upgrade the Sepanggar Port and elevate it into a transshipment hub of the region, the Cabotage Policy in so far as it is applicable to Sabah, should be further liberalised or abolished. "Sabah has an open economy where our business community trade with people and businesses in the international community, and funds can flow as investments across the border. When the time comes, we need to put in place policies and incentives which will attract more foreign vessels to call at Sepanggar Port," he said in a statement.He, however, was of the opinion that the policy is not the only one to blame for costlier goods in the State."While it is a common public perception that policy is the main cause of costlier goods in Sabah, I think it is just one of the many causes."I doubt very much that in the event the cabotage policy is abolished, the price of goods in Sabah will drop overnight, but we can expect more competitive freight charges for domestic routes which would reduce logistics cost as a whole," added Teo.But he is convinced that further liberalisation or abolition of the policy will boost Sabah's position in the regional economy."Therefore, as far as Sabah is concerned, l urge the Federal Government to reevaluate the cabotage policy," he called.Opposition Parti Warisan also threw its support to the Sarawak Chief Minister for proposing the abolishment.Its Vice President Junz Wong, in a statement, called on the Federal Government to take up the proposal and urged political leaders in Sabah support it regardless of their political differences. "The call is timely as the cost of living in Sabah has been escalating at a scary pace and talk is rife that Sepanggar Port will be upgraded into an international port," he said.He said abolishment of Cabotage Policy will help to reduce the cost of logistics and transportation hence lower cost of doing business and cost of living in Sabah. Junz said that Cabotage policy only succeeded in creating a "monopolistic cartel" which protected shipping companies at the expense of Sabahans and Sarawakians. "This has lasted 30 years and now the Federal Government wants to give them a block exemption. Not only we Sabahans pay higher prices due to the policy, when the exemption is implemented, their position here will be strengthened," he said.He called on Federal to review their decision to reject their application in regards to the block exemption. "These shipping companies which are protected under the Cabotage Policy can earn between RM4million per year (smaller companies) and up to over 40million per year (larger companies). And on top of that, these companies and related agencies are also exempted from paying tax," he said.He said transportation charges from Kota Kinabalu to Port Klang are more expensive than charges from Kota Kinabalu to GuangZhou, in China as a result of the monopoly. Warisan said despite being protected all these years, the shipping companies have put in little effort into increasing their shipping capacity via ship handling strength and abilities. He noted that according to Malaysia's merchant shipping capacity statistic from 2005-2009, their capacity as far as general cargo and full container are concerned, has remained stagnant over the years."What makes it even more absurd is that these shipping companies even outsourced both foreign and local shippers when they run out of capacity to handle.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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