KOTA KINABALU: Warisan Vice President and Tanjung Aru Assemblyman Datuk Junz Wong said congestion and operational failures at the Sepanggar Bay Container Port (SBCP) have become a serious economic crisis that can no longer be handled with ad hoc measures.
He called for the immediate formation of a special task force with full authority, clear targets and strict timelines to resolve the port’s congestion and bottlenecks, warning that delays are hurting Sabah’s competitiveness and raising costs for businesses and consumers.
“The chaos at Sepanggar Port is not a teething problem. It is a serious problem with a far-reaching adverse impact on the State economy and the people’s livelihood,” he said in a statement.
Junz claimed that lorry productivity has dropped from four container trips a day to two, while fuel, maintenance, demurrage and detention charges have increased, with costs eventually passed on to consumers through higher prices.
He added that port inefficiencies are discouraging investors and weakening Sabah’s industrial and manufacturing prospects.
“When our main container port is paralysed, investors take notice and they look elsewhere.
“This contributes to limited job opportunities, stagnant wages and rising living costs, forcing many young Sabahans to seek work outside the State,” he said.
He proposed that the task force be led by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick, involving key state agencies and industry representatives, and urged regular public updates, disclosure of capacity constraints, performance benchmarks for DP World and clear accountability if targets are not met.
“Sabah does not need more rhetoric. It needs honest answers, firm timelines and a task force empowered to deliver results,” he said.
