This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 12, 2024 - August 18, 2024

PERBADANAN Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) is looking to develop Carey Island into a port city, as it takes the lead on the project on behalf of the Selangor state government, says group CEO Datuk Mahmud Abbas.

Towards this end, the state government has decided that PKNS will be bestowed with “land below the water” that will be gazetted for the development of the third port in the Klang River estuary.

PKNS, the state economic development corporation, is currently undertaking a survey to see how large an area is needed for the port.

“The port land — the land beneath the water — will belong to PKNS. At the moment, there is no title. But because the state said it is going to be owned by PKNS, right now we are doing the survey,” says Mahmud in an exclusive interview with The Edge.

The development is being planned as a mega container port, with a container throughput capacity of 30 million 20ft equivalent units (TEUs) a year. It will be carried out over four phases and is expected to be completed by 2060. The cost is estimated to be about RM28 billion.

Minister of Transport Anthony Loke said last September that the feasibility study for the port had been completed. In October, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the state was ready to conduct a request for proposal for the development.

When the port is completed, it will have a total wharf length of about 16km, which is longer than Westports Holdings Bhd’s (KL:WPRTS) total wharf length of about 11km, once its expansion is fully completed.

Westports is currently developing Westports 2, which involves an extension of its wharves in Pulau Indah, Port Klang, to Container Terminal (CT) 17, from the current CT9. Once completed, Westports will have a total container throughput capacity of 28 million TEUs a year. The expansion will be spread out over 15 years, with the construction of CT10 scheduled to start this quarter. CT10 is expected to be operational by 2028, with the first phase of the expansion, comprising CT10 to CT13, to be fully operational by 2035.

CT10 to CT13 are expected to add an annual capacity of six million TEUs to Port Klang.

Meanwhile, the first phase of Carey Island Port is expected to be completed by 2030. It is not known how much additional container throughput capacity will be available in the Port Klang region by then.

According to Mahmud, as PKNS is the appointed state government partner for Carey Island Port, whoever is awarded the concession to develop and run the port will have to form a joint venture with it.

In 2017, MMC Corp Bhd (KL:­MMC) and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the feasibility of Carey Island Port.

It is not clear whether MMC and APSEZ are still eyeing the development, or whether the MoU is still valid or has lapsed, considering it was signed seven years ago.

Besides the port development, PKNS will also look at developing a port city in Carey Island, says Mahmud.

“We are talking about growing the economy, and [we have] an opportunity to develop a port city [there]. Elsewhere in Port Klang, whether in West Port or North Port, there are no port cities. Pulau Indah did not turn out to be a port city,” he adds.

Mahmud believes that Pulau Indah, despite hosting Westports, the largest container port terminal in the country, is not a port city, as it was not planned from the get-go when it was decided that the second container terminal in Port Klang would be located there.

Now, however, he says the port city development can be done at Carey Island. Mahmud believes his experience as CEO of Central Spectrum (M) Sdn Bhd, the developer of Pulau Indah Industrial Park, Selangor Halal Hub and SBB Industrial Park, which are all in Pulau Indah, will stand him in good stead for this task.

“In Pulau Indah, the industrial development was not focused or targeted. So, in Pulau Carey, we can develop exact industries in certain locations to make it more efficient, and properly place the logistics hub.”

Carey Island has a total area of 13,000ha, which is about one fifth the size of Singapore. Most of the land is owned by SD Guthrie Bhd (KL:SDG). The port itself will take up just a small portion of Carey Island, as it will be mostly built on reclaimed land.

The multibillion-ringgit port project will likely start soon, if the target of getting it up and running by 2030 remains. With PKNS representing the Selangor government in the development of Carey Island, the latter will likely have a major say on how it pans out. 

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