Chong calls on state govt to liberalise cement import, instead of forming JV

Chong Chieng Jen – Photo by Chimon Upon

KUCHING (Dec 25): The Sarawak government should liberalise the importation of cement from overseas, instead of only allowing the joint venture (JV) company of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) to import this key construction material.

In pointing this out, Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen said the proposed move by the state government in allowing only the SEDC-BDA JV entity to import cement from Thailand could partially resolve the cement shortage problem, but he also said this could create the additional ‘middleman’ costs to the local contractor.

“This, in economic term, is called ‘rent-seeking’, and for government to be carrying out rent-seeking, it is most improper and unacceptable.

“While this proposed JV company makes profits from the importation of cement, such profits would be passed on to the local contractors as additional costs.

“The question that we should ask is: why not allow anyone involved in the construction sector to import cement themselves?

“Why is there a need to create a ‘middleman’ to profit from our local contractors?” he said in a statement yesterday.

Chong pointed out that the role of government agencies like SEDC and BDA was to facilitate economic activities and growth, not to add on to the costs of business operations and construction of the local contractors.

“Therefore, DAP Sarawak proposes that the state government should liberalise the importation of cement, allowing any of those involved in construction sector to directly import cement from overseas; not only Thailand, but (from) any country that has cheaper quality cement.

“For that, there should not be too much bureaucracy and red tapes in the import process.

“Now that the GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) is in both the federal and state cabinets, it should be very easy to liberalise the importation of cement into Sarawak,” stressed Chong.

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