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While other ports are busy
trumpeting and congratulating
themselves for their "success" in
handling large increases in the
volume of containers, Northport, at
Port Klang retained its status as
the premier national gateway port.
Northport, which registered a total
of throughput of 27 million tonnes
and 2.48 million TEUs last year,
handled more national container
trade than any other port in the
country.
The diligent performance of
Northport contrasts sharply with the
boisterous approach by other ports
to advertise container throughput
increase as if was the only
yardstick or measure of success.
The economic linkage and the
multiplier effect of the role played
by Northport in the national economy
were much stronger as it handled a
larger volume of national trade.
Based on the volume of containers
handled in 2002 totalling 2.48
million TEUs, about 60 per cent of
the container throughput at
Northport was national trade.
By virtue of the composition and
volume of the container throughput
too, Northport offered the most
comprehensive network of shipping
services compared with any port in
the country.
Northport provides more direct links
to world ports than any ports.
The economic activity at Northport
is much higher - it generates, for
instance, a higher volume of inland
movement of containers by road and
rail and this translates in greater
economic activity for the national
economy.
This also "multiplies" in related
activities such as warehousing,
inland depot operations, container
maintenance and repairs,
repositioning of empty containers,
leasing of containers aside from a
higher level of freight forwarding,
ship husbanding and agency
activities.
The distribution activity at
Northport is also much higher, thus
generating more employment and
economic opportunities for
companies, including from its
acquisition of the Northport
Distripark Sdn Bhd and fostering
closer ties with MASkargo and KTM
Bhd to spawn distribution and
value-added transshipment
activities.
The pre-eminent role of Northport in
the national economy can also be
extended to its ownership that is
much broader and more national in
scope and character since its
ultimate shareholder is Permodalan
Nasional Bhd as well as MISC, a
major public listed company.
Besides the public-listed Northport
also pays more corporate taxes from
revenue earned and is a financial
self reliant port (as funds for
development are internally
generated) it comes less as a burden
to the tax payer than some other
port that depend on public funds
(and even enjoy moratorium on
payments!).
Transhipment, devoid of any linkage
to the national economy, is seen as
an activity seen as no more than a
water-front business.
It is a "footloose" activity
considering the fact that foreign
ships call at the port only to
unload containers from a foreign
port or load containers earlier
carried by a feeder vessel from a
foreign port.
The containers handled at the ports
that are heavily reliant on
transshipment consists mainly of
interface operations - relaying
containers to and from ports in
region from or to final destinations
that is hardly any link to the
national economy.
The poor linkage between the
transshipment ports and the national
economy could perhaps be also seen
from the poor utilization of the
excellent road and rail specially
built by the government to link
these ports to the national grids.
These ports not only offer weak link
to the national economy, but also
such ports "subsidize" the exports
or imports of foreign countries
since the containers are from ports
of the countries in the region, such
as Indonesia, Thailand or the Indian
sub-continent where ships cannot, or
will not, call directly.
The numbers game played by certain
ports now even extent to counting
re-stows as composite throughput,
distorting the macro economic
fundamentals.
It was based on such distorted data
supplied on the state of the growth
of container traffic in the country
that the Ministry of Entrepreneur
Development happily handled over
permits to more than 50 haulage
companies.
These haulage companies are tearing
each others throat for lack of
demand because the deluge of
containers that the ports were said
to have recorded either did not
leave the port (because they were
re-shipped) or worse, were simply
not there physically. |
