Kota Kinabalu: Parking along road shoulders by container trailers along Sepanggar Port will be banned following Sunday’s tragedy where a father and daughter were killed when their Toyota Avanza was crushed by a container that toppled while being loaded into a trailer.
A special meeting involving enforcement agencies would be convened to coordinate action, said Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Ewon Benedick said.
The meeting would involve the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (LPKP), Road Transport Department (JPJ), Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and City Hall.
The agencies would discuss measures to ensure compliance with the prohibition on parking container trailers along road shoulders in Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) and throughout Sepanggar Port Road.
The fatal incident was discussed at the Sabah Cabinet meeting two days ago, prompting the move to strengthen enforcement and address safety concerns along the route.
Ewon, who is also Deputy Chief Minister III and State Industrial Development, Entrepreneurship and Transport Minister, said the enforcement initiative would complement ongoing efforts to ease congestion at Sepanggar Bay Container Port, where limited container storage space remains a major operational constraint.
He said a multi-agency task force under his chairmanship was monitoring 10 interim action plans to address congestion while the port expansion project continued, with its current extension of time (EOT) running until October 2027.
One of the measures approved by the Sabah Cabinet is the coordination of 24-hour operations by government agencies involved in container clearance.
At present, the arrangement is implemented through overtime (OT) by the relevant agencies, including the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM), based on requests from port users.
However, Ewon said Sabah’s application to gazette Sepanggar Bay Container Port for 24-hour operations was still awaiting approval from the Federal Finance Ministry.
The proposed arrangement is intended to improve coordination in container clearance and support port operations, but its full implementation remains subject to Federal approval.
Another interim measure is the provision of a transit parking area for container trailers by KKIPEwon said the facility had opened and was already being used by container trailer service companies. He urged all operators to use the designated area instead of leaving their trailers along road shoulders.
The transit parking facility is one of the 10 interim action plans being monitored by the task force, which comprises government agencies, associations representing port users and the port concessionaire and operator.
Ewon said the Ministry of Industrial Development, Entrepreneurship and Transport (Mindent) would continue to monitor issues affecting Sepanggar Bay Container Port and coordinate the implementation of appropriate measures to improve port efficiency and road safety.
