Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman is supporting the island's port users by publicly asking the Ministry of Transport to replace the present port management company when their contract expires at the end of the year.

Suhaili, who is also Labuan Corporation chairperson, said the existing service and management contract with the company should not be renewed and a new contract given to another company which could provide reasonable charges without burdening the locals.

Liberty Port Management Sdn Bhd has been besieged with complaints about their services by freight forwarding companies, transport companies and export-import companies.

"As a port operator you simply cannot change the rules and raise charges at your whims and fancies without any justification at all," said KS Pua who runs a paper product import business.

No notice

Suhaili said that the excessive port charges levied on port users had created a chain reaction and thus raising the cost of consumer goods on the island, adversely affected the lifestyle of the islanders.

The outspoken Umno MP also urged the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) to investigate whether proper procedures were followed during the 1998 "privatisation" of Liberty Port to the company, which is a subsidiary of the Labuan Malaysian Malay Chamber of Commerce.

The company's managing director Mohd Alias Abdul Rahman told malaysiakini in September that he had not received any notice from the relevant authorities on whether the contract would be reviewed or not renewed after December 31, 2005.

Attempts to reach Mohd Alias today for his comments were unsuccessful.

However, it is learnt that Liberty Port Management has been lobbying the Ministry of Finance for a renewal of the contract and that the company is willing to review its port charges.