KUALA LUMPUR — The federal government and the Sarawak state government have, in principle, agreed on a value of RM1.8 billion for Sarawak’s acquisition of Bintulu Port, Transport Minister Anthony Loke told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said both governments are now at the final stage of the handover process, with a joint technical committee fine-tuning legal aspects to ensure all obligations under the Bintulu Port Authority (Dissolution) Act 2023 [Act 59] are met before the Act takes effect.
“This step is important to enable the Sarawak state government to officially take over the regulation and governance of Bintulu Port. The federal government has also determined the payment value as well as the payment method to be adopted by the Sarawak state government for the purpose of acquiring the port,” Loke said during the question-and-answer session.
He was responding to Oscar Ling Chai Yew (PH–Sibu), who asked about the current status of the takeover, including the amount to be paid by Sarawak.
Loke clarified that the takeover involves only the regulatory body — the Bintulu Port Authority — and not port operations, which remain under concessionaire Bintulu Port Holdings.
“The Bintulu Port Authority receives concession payments annually from the concession-holding company, and any investment to expand the port will be undertaken by the concessionaire. Therefore, there is no issue of the Bintulu Port Authority requiring funds from the federal government, as it continues to receive concession payments from the company operating the port,” he explained.
He added that asset valuation is still being refined through several mechanisms, including a technical committee, a working committee, and a special committee jointly chaired by himself and the Sarawak Deputy Premier, with details expected to be finalised soon.
On transparency, Loke stressed that disclosure of information is subject to agreement between both parties but assured that the Transport Ministry has “nothing to hide” as the transaction is being carried out openly.
“Regarding the Sarawak state government’s financial capability, there is no cause for concern as the state government has the capacity to pay the amount, which was agreed upon after several rounds of negotiations between the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) and the Sarawak Premier. In fact, the Sarawak government intends to make a lump-sum payment to the federal government, and this is welcomed,” he added. – February 4, 2026