Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (BPSB) signed a third interim agreement (IA) with the Transport Ministry (MOT) and Bintulu Port Authority (BPA) to extend its operation of Bintulu Port for an additional 12 months.
The extension will run from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 or until the Declaration of an Area in the Bintulu District to be a Federal Port (Repeal) Act 2024 and the Bintulu Port Authority (Dissolution) Act 2024 come into effect, depending on whichever is earlier.
Previously, BPSB entered into an initial IA with the government and BPA to continue operations of Bintulu Port under an interim period (IP) of six months, effective 1 January 2023 till 30 June 2023.
This was followed by the second IA, extending the IP by 12 months from 1 July 2023 until 30 June 2024 and subsequently a further extension of six months until 31 December 2024.
As announced in Budget 2024, the federal government agreed to transfer Bintulu Port’s regulatory powers to the Sarawak state government, changing its status to a state port, with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on 22 March 2024 to facilitate the transition.
Due to this, MOT presented the necessary legislation to Parliament and both the Federal Port (Repeal) Bill 2024 and the Bintulu Port Authority (Dissolution) Bill 2024 were passed.
“Currently, the state government, BPA and BPSB are finalising the Port Operation Agreement to appoint BPSB as the operator when (we) become a port regulated by Sarawak,” Bintulu Port said.
