LETTER | Port Klang Authority welcomes constructive criticisms

EDITOR'S NOTE: Malaysiakini maintains that it did reach out to the Port Klang Authority prior to the publication of the story.

LETTER | The Port Klang Authority (PKA) would like to respond to the article titled “Dakwa LPK ‘lembap’, ahli perniagaan gesa menteri campur tangan” published by Malaysiakini on Oct 17.

The complainant had sent an email to PKA on Oct 13 to enquire about the tidal windows available for deep draft ships calling Southport.

PKA then contacted Northport, the terminal operator on Oct 16 to liaise with the complainant to furnish details about ships’ expected drafts over a period of three months to facilitate the calculation of the tidal windows.

It is a usual practice for agents to request for tidal windows about a week ahead of ships’ arrival but not three months ahead.

The Southport terminal which is located close to the Klang River mouth is over 100 years old and is subjected to a high siltation rate. As such dredging cycles are carefully managed to ensure optimum depths are maintained to avoid frequent dredging exercises which are very costly and not economically viable.

The complainant had previously also disputed the port’s safety regulations by insisting oversized vessels be allowed to berth in the port despite clear regulations.

Recently, he questioned the port’s berthing policy which has been promulgated and accepted by the port community, showing his unhappiness after his vessel had to queue for a berth behind another vessel which arrived earlier.

PKA welcomes constructive criticisms and will respond to enquiries and complaints from port users immediately when full information is provided.

Port users who do not receive a reply within three working days may forward their enquiries to: [email protected]

Despite Malaysiakini alleging that it had contacted PKA and is awaiting a response, we can confirm that no contact was made with our Corporate Communications Department to verify the complaint.

It would have been appropriate and in line with responsible reporting if Malaysiakini had checked with PKA before running the story.

GENERAL MANAGER
PORT KLANG AUTHORITY

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.