Kuala Lumpur: Failure to privatise Malaysia’s oldest port, Penang, will see it lose up RM100m next year, the ceo of the port, Datuk Ahmad Ibnihajar. The uncertainty surrounding the privatisation has seen vital dredging stalled and a deal with a Belgian limestone company also fall through.
The ceo warned the port might collapse if the privatisation did not happen quickly as funding was running dry.
The privatisation of the port, which first started operating in 1792, was announced in 2010 with tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari, who also owned the Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Johor Port in Johor, winning the bid in a `limited open tender’. [07/11/13]
