PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia ports are facing a significant shortage of prime mover drivers to ferry cargo within ports, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.
He said the terminal ports of Port Klang and The Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) needed between 800 to 1,000 prime movers, which play an important role in ferrying cargo from the wharf to the shipping yard and vice-versa, to cater to the demand in increase in cargo movement.
Loke said he had raised the shortage issue to the Home and Human Resources Ministries along with an appeal to allow port operators to hire foreign workers to fill the vacancies for at least three to five years as Malaysia is currently in the transition period to fully using autonomous vehicles at the ports.
He also advised locals to consider taking up the job as a prime mover driver as it offers a decent income of about RM3,300 a month.
“We have some local prime mover drivers who worked in ports in Johor and after six months they crossed over to work in Singapore ports due to higher salary,“ he told a press conference after chairing the National Shipping and Port Council (NSPC) Meeting here today.
On another matter, Loke said he had brought up to the Cabinet the issue of 74 items, including commodities, which needed a permit or government approval to enter Malaysian ports even for transshipment purposes.
He would engage with the relevant ministries to see if any conditions could be relaxed for the items to enter Malaysia ports in an effort to make them a preferred transshipment hub. — Bernama
