KUALA LUMPUR (March 8): The Ministry of Transport is aiming to finalise the concession agreement with Westports Holdings Bhd for the latter’s expansion project in the second half of this year, said minister Anthony Loke.
“But this expansion is maximum, because the entire Westports 2 will be on reclaimed land, there is only certain limit to that reclaimed land, because it is almost nearing Carey Island, which of course is earmarked for another port project,” Loke told an audience here at Invest Malaysia 2023.
The expansion is expected to increase Westports’ current capacity of 14 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by 13 million TEUs to 27 million TEUs in the next 10 years, said Loke.
Loke was responding to questions from the forum’s moderator Michael Oh-Lau, the chief executive officer of Maybank Investment Banking Group, who asked for an update on developments at Westports and Carey Island.
“Carey Island, third port in Port Klang, has been studied since 2019. Cabinet has approved Port Klang Authority (PKA) to do a study on the viability, the study has taken more than two years, and finally shown that it is feasible to have a third port.
“Whether or not the third port will give direct competition to the existing ports, I think they are not mutually exclusive, we can do both together, we are not stopping the expansion at Westports, it will continue,” he said.
This is because the Carey Island port development will span over 30 years and its initial phases will focus on conventional cargo, having dry and liquid bulk cargo terminals, said Loke.
“In fact, I just got a briefing last week from PKA, the port will be broken into four phases, Phase 1A, if everything goes well, it will only begin in 2025, Phase 1B 2026, Phase 2 2043 and Phase 3 2052. A mega project such as this, we will need at least 20-30 years for planning and execution. Tuas taken more than 10 years, same goes to Carey Island.
“In the first phase, we are not going to focus on the container port, it is more [of a] conventional cargo terminal. Because currently, as you know, Westports is a fully container port, no bulk cargo, it is only Northports, which in terms of capacity is limited,” he said.
“Under our studies, even with Westports 2 fully operational in 27 million TEUs, we could probably reach that capacity in the late 2030s, so when the Carey Island port comes into the picture in 2030s and 2040s, it will be just nice in providing more capacity,” he added.
Govt open to discussing Bintulu Port’s future with Sarawak
Loke also touched on the issue of the Sarawak state government’s intention to take over Bintulu Port from the federal government, which he said may involve a long process.
“We are forming a committee to look at what is the mechanism if we can ever do that, because it involves legislation, Bintulu Port Authority is legislated under an Act of the Parliament, and what is the view of Petronas, all that have to be taken into consideration,” he said.
“Even if we have crossed all those hurdles and come out with a list of solutions, we still need to go to Cabinet for approval. Right now, it is still at a very preliminary stage, and we are open to discussion.
“As you know that the federal government and Sarawak government are in a friendly relationship, we are all in the unity government now, we don’t say no to our partners in Sarawak, we are open to discussion, but that will take a long process,” he added.