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In what seems to be an afterthought following the bizarre move by the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development to license nearly 60 companies to haul containers, the Ministry is planning to undertake a study to of the container haulage industry.
It is understood that the Ministry, which in the last 18 months went about thoughtlessly issuing licenses for about 1,700 prime movers and 3,000 trailers, is now having second thoughts about its hasty action that was decried by the five-member Container Hauliers Association.
Despite opposition by CHAM that the Ministry's move was imprudent, as it would create severe imbalance in the marketplace, the Ministry defended its move on grounds, without scientific basis, that there was a shortage of capacity.
So far about 700 prime movers and about 4,800 have been put on the road by the new hauliers, adding to the estimated 2,700 prime movers and 15,000 trailers owned by the CHAM members, namely, Kontena Nasional Sdn Bhd, Konsortium Logistik Bhd, Deperdana Kontena Bhd, MISC Haulage Services Sdn Bhd and Multimodal Freight Services Sdn Bhd.
The misgiving in awarding such large number of licenses has been reflected by the announcement by the Minister of Entrepreneur Development Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz that he would not hesitate to withdraw licenses from companies that fail to utilize them by 1 September although many of the new companies are reluctant to do so because of a downturn in the market.
The Minister has also asked the new hauliers to consolidate in the wake of the anticipated competition expected with the entry of Asean Free Trade Area - a suggestion that only further affirms a poor policy decision by the Ministry.
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