Dr. Wee Ka Siong, Malaysian Transport Minister urged the Malay youth to take up jobs in the Marine Engineering Sector. Updates from his official Social Media page:
Dr. Wee launched the proposed expansion plans for Kemaman Port where a potential increase in cargo volume is expected very soon. The expansion project is taken up by the consortium Pelabuhan Kemaman Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of EPIC Berhad), and the Kemaman Port Authority.
Dr Wee was onboard Inai Kenanga, a trailer suction hopper dredger (TSHD) owned by Syarikat Inai Kiara Sdn Bhd, the parent company of Integrated Marine Works Sdn Bhd (IMW) to see the dredging work. Inai Kenanga has a dredging waste material capacity of 33,300 cubic metres and it is the largest TSHD in Asia and the 3rd largest in the world, with some of the most advanced equipment.
Kemaman Port has experienced vital increase in annual cargo handling, from 4 million tonnes in 2011 and up to 8 million tonnes in 2019. The total cargo and ship handling volume in Kemaman Port is set to increase this year and is expected to increase in the following years too in the backdrop of the post Covid-19 pandemic economic recovery.
Kemaman Port is expected to record an upward trend in cargo handling. Forecasts predict the port to handle a total of 5.7 million tonnes cargo this year, followed by 6.2 million tonnes in 2023, 17.9 million tonnes in 2024 and 24.4 million tonnes in 2025.
Dr. Wee congratulated Kemaman Port and the new investor in Syarikat JXR Manufacturing, in line with the industrial development in the East Coast Corridor in Peninsular Malaysia. This steel billet producer is expected to start operation in 2024 by handling 7 million tonnes in cargo.
The port is drawing out long-term plans to develop and modernise Kemaman Port with port expansions, new pier and facilities and to increase the capacity to cater to the needs of existing and future port users. He said that the Ministry of Transport (MOT) will ensure support to finish the project on time.
The execution of short- and medium-term development plans is expected to increase the port capacity from 7 million tonnes a year to 33 million tonnes in 2026. MOT believes the expansion plans led by Kemaman Port Authority and Kemaman Port Consortium will be carried out smoothly and will soon benefit Keluarga, Malaysia by being the economic catalyst for Kemaman and complementing surrounding areas that are undergoing rapid development.
Other dignitaries who also joined him in his visit to the East Coast Ports include Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation and Kemaman Port Consortium Sdn. Bhd. Board of Directors Chairman YB Datuk Hj Ahmad Amzad bin Hashim, Kemaman MP and Kemaman Port Authority Chairman YB Tuan Che Alias bin Hamid, Marine Department Malaysia Director-General Dato’ Hj. Baharin Bin Dato’ Abdul Hamid, Kemaman Port Authority General Manager Dato’ Khairul Anuar bin Abdul Rahman and EPIC Group CEO Tuan Haji Saabi Bin Wahab.
