Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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(June 15): The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency's (MMEA) failure to provide enough jetties for its vessels resulted in losses worth RM10.36 million, after 5 vessels were either destroyed or damaged in a fire that broke out on a rented jetty (jeti tumpangan).

Only seven of the 42 jetties that MMEA's 230 vessels used belonged to the agency, while the remaining 35 were too small and not secured, according to the second series of the 2014 Auditor-General's (A-G) Report.

"The safety of the ships/boats are not guaranteed, with checks by the Audit discovering that on July 31, 2013, a fire broke out at a rented jetty which involved five MMEA ships/boats: KM Mukah, KM Rentap, Penyelamat 6, Penggalang 19 and Pengawal 15.

"According to the report of the incident, it was believed to be caused by a fire that broke out on a fishing boat docked at the same jetty, which subsequently spread to the MMEA ships/boats," read the A-G's Report.

It said two of the vessels, KM Mukah and Penyelamat 6, suffered severe damages, and investigators recommended that they be disposed.

The report said MMEA had spent RM2.58 million on MK Mukah in 2012 and RM7.15 million to build Penyelamat 6 before they were destroyed by the fire.

MMEA also spent RM64,000 to repair KM Rentap, it said.

"The audit found that the incident cost MMEA losses worth RM10.36 million," said the report.

Other rented jetties were so small that it caused the berthed vessels to collide with one another, particularly during bad weather, causing damages to the ships, said the report.

It said the stack horn and stanchion of a boat named Pengawal 23 snapped off when several boats collided against each other at a jetty on July 10, 2014.

In its response, MMEA acknowledged that it needed more jetties, but said its application to the Economic Planning Unit was rejected.

It said that a "green room meeting" had agreed MMEA should receive several offices and marines, but nothing had transpired.

"MMEA urgently needs jetties because maintenance works cannot be carried out smoothly as we are using jetties from other agencies.

"MMEA feels that the results of the green room meeting were agreed upon at the highest levels, yet failed in implementation." – The Malaysian Insider

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