Labuan port staff stage picket against 'take over' of port

LABUAN, Jan 13 -- More than 100 staff of Labuan Liberty Port Management Sdn Bhd (LLPM) today staged a peaceful picket to express their objection to the possible appointment of a new operator for the Labuan Liberty Wharf.

Their representative Roslan Umar, 45, read out a petition while the staff held banners and placards asking for the government’s intervention on the matter.

“We the LLPM staff are strongly objecting the Labuan Port Authority’s (LPA) decision to allow the taking over of the Labuan Liberty Wharf by a new operator,” he said when reading out the petition at Desa Tunas, Kg Sg Miri here.

He said they want their employer LLPM to continue operating the port, which they said had been transformed by LLPM without any grant from the government.

The petition, which was shared with the media, said appointing a new operator from outside Labuan would be tantamount to sidelining local interests.

Roslan said the staff had been working with LLPM for many years to ensure its smooth operations even before LPA was established.

LLPM management representative Azhar Othman said the picket was unexpected and he thanked the staff for their loyalty.

On Dec 17 last year, LLPM lodged a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on alleged conspiracy in the Labuan port tender decision-making process.

The port operator also lodged a report on ‘leaked’ port tender results which had not been officially announced by the LPA.

Meanwhile, LPA in a statement to Bernama denied that any decision had been made on the new operator of containerised port Labuan Liberty Wharf.

-- BERNAMA