PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — State Special Tasks Minister Datuk Teo Chee Kang of Malaysia expressed optimism Wednesday that the roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) ferry link between Kudat and Palawan will create more job opportunities for the residents of both territories.
In an interview by Malaysian paper New Straits Times writer Norasikin Daineh on the ferry service that is waiting to operate any month this year, Teo was quoted as saying that he had contacted the Palawan government regarding the confirmation of the ferry service, whose maiden voyage had been canceled for several times since late last year.
He said one of his visions is to make Kudat to be Palawan’s entry point north of Sabah under the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).
“The ferry service that connects both regions will change the town at the end of the road or the tip of Borneo into the route for daily import and export activities,” the New Strait Times quoted him.
The special tasks minister said the RoRo ferry service link would “definitely stimulate economic development and create more employment and entrepreneurship in Kudat.”
Also an assemblyman of Tanjong Kapor, a town in Malaysia, Teo said it “took years to plan the (ferry) service, get an allocation from the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department to construct the ramp at the jetty.”
Alongside these, there were also various meetings held to resolve technical issues and obtain support from numerous departments and agencies both in Malaysia and the Philippines.
“Sabah government has agreed to the ferry service subject to existing laws and regulations. Unfortunately, the other side only has a domestic license when it was compulsory to own an international license for this sector, which the Transport Ministry could not disregard,” he was further quoted.
Teo said that for this, he has contacted the Palawan government “to check on its commitment towards this goal.”
“I am confident they can propose a ferry ship service with an international license. The ferry service will be a reality soon,” he told the New Straits Times, stating that the RM8-million (about PHP107 million) ramp is a project that will not go to waste.
Earlier, Palawan provincial information officer Gil Acosta Jr. assured that the ferry service will pursue but is just awaiting the completion of several required documents. Its launching was interrupted several times due to a weather disturbance. (PNA)
