Official Opening of Menara Kidurong

Accompanying
the Honourable Tun was Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Hajah Norkiah, Y.B.
Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr.) Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang, Deputy Chief
Minister (II) of Sarawak, Minister of Infrastructure Development and
Communication and Minister of Rural Development and Y.Bhg. Dato’
Jamilah Mohd. Jan, Deputy Secretary General (Operation) of the Ministry
of Transport Malaysia whom was representing Y.B. Dato’ Sri Chan Kong
Choy, the Minister of Transport.

The construction of Menara
Kidurong began on 18 September 2001 and was completed on 30 November
2005, reaching a total cost of RM 80 million. Upon its completion,
Menara Kidurong became the BPA’s new Corporate Headquarters Building,
marking the importance of the BPA as a major player in the Malaysian
port industry since its establishment on 15 August 1981 under the
Bintulu Port Authority Act 1981. It will serve as a centre for
facilitating business transactions within the port by hosting several
government agencies and key figures in the port community.

The
building has a fully-equipped control tower for overall port
surveillance as well as more than 9,000 square metres of office space
available for rent, a shipping hall, auditorium, cafeteria, exhibition
hall, function rooms and basement parking amongst other facilities.

Notably,
the Bintulu Port is the only export gateway for liquefied natural gas
(LNG) that is being produced from the Central Luconia field (located
off the Bintulu coast). Apart from LNG being the main commodity being
handled at this port, a variety of liquid, dry and break-bulk cargo as
well as containerised cargoes are also handled there.

When the
port first became operational, the main cargo was 1.38 millions tons of
LNG which was handled through only one jetty. Recently, the port
experienced a increase in the total amount of cargo tonnage that was
handled there, with the liquid, dry and other cargo increasing by
6.74%, 4.8% and 82.78% respectively for the years of 2004/2005.

Apart
from this substantial growth of cargo handling, the number of ship
calls has increased from 1,095 ship calls in 1983 to 5,789 ship calls
in 2005. Such development has led the Bintulu Port to become the single
largest LNG export terminal in the world, with a capacity to handle 23
million tons annually.

In recognition of the BPA’s commitment to
keeping high standards of quality, the Independent European
Certification (IEC) accredited it with the certification of MS ISO9001:
1994 in 2001 for regulating the operation and handling of LNG at the
Bintulu Port.

This certification was upgraded to the ISO9001:
2000 version on 22 December 2003. The BPA was also certified to be
compliant with the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code,
which came into effect on 1 Jul 2004.
Subsequently, this has
placed the BPA on an international level in relation towards foreign
vessels having confidence in their security measures.

As future
challenges lay ahead, the BPA’s role as the governing body of the
Bintulu Port will undoubtedly continue to strengthen with the existence
of Menara Kidurong.

T.Y.T. Tun Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Muhammad Salahuddin officiating the opening of Menara Kidurong	An LNG ship approaching the Bintulu Port