style="text-transform: uppercase;">Labuan: The Labuan Chinese Chamber Commerce (LCCC) concurred with Labuan Liberty Port Management (LLPM) that the tender for Labuan port management services should have been given wider publicity so that no interested party will miss out on the opportunity to participate."The exercise seems to have been done in haste," said LCCC Chairman Datuk Wong Kii Yii.

"Even none of our members knew about it and this is not proper. In the case of LLPM which has been the port operator since 1998, the company should have been invited and not left to find out through an advertisement in a local daily," he said.

He said there would have been wider appreciation if the newly established Labuan Port Authority (LPA) had made greater effort in bringing the notice to public attention.

He said the notice of pre-qualifications of companies for operations and facility management is a rare exercise and most interested companies would not be looking at newspaper advertisement for the notice unless they have been alerted and got inside information.

"This job is unlike development projects which frequently are advertised and developers and contractors are on a lookout daily for the announcement."

Last Thursday, LLPM cried foul over the decision of LPA to call for the pre-qualifications tender from companies.

The company felt since it is the present operator of the port, it should have been invited.

The company was also surprised that the exercise was carried out, especially when it had been assured that LLPM could continue the operations until there is a need to review.

As a consequence, the company was not aware of the tender notice until representatives from other ports visited the Labuan facility.

On another note, Wong said LPA should consider the fact that since it is a Labuan-based port, some priority should be given to Labuan-based competent companies for the job, including LLPM.

"Our observations show mostly Labuan-based companies contribute back to the community through CSR projects, and in this context, LLMP has done a splendid job," declared Wong.

LPA was established early this year following the extension of Bintulu Port Authority Act (BPA) which extended an incentive allocation of RM6 million to LPA for administrative expenses.

The local members in LPA are MP Datuk Rozman Isli who is the Deputy Chairman and MCA Chairman Datuk Chin Hong Vui serving as a member.

Both LCCC and Labuan Indian Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry had also sought for membership in LPA but were not successful.

The outstanding feature of Labuan Port is its natural deep harbour capable of handling 16,000dwt vessels.

It was ranked as the 15th busiest port in 2003. - Sohan Das