ALOR SETAR: The Kedah government has proposed for the federal government to terminate Dragon Star Shipping Sdn Bhd’s passenger ferry services to safeguard the image of Kedah and Langkawi.
Kedah Agriculture and Agro-based Industry and Transport Committee chairman Azman Nasrudin said the matter was conveyed to the Transport Ministry after obtaining the approval of the State Executive Councillor and Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Mahathir in a meeting recently.
Azman said the state government had no other choice but to propose the move to prevent such incident from recurring as it would affect the tourism industry particularly with the upcoming Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2019 (Lima’19) from March 26 to 30.
“We have a strong reason to propose such a move due to the company’s passenger ferry services considered less than satisfactory.
“The recent incident was not the first one involving the company because in October last year, one of its ferries was stranded for eight hours in the middle of the sea while on its way to Langkawi from Kuala Kedah due to faulty engine,” he told reporters after opening the 2019 Durian Festival at the Darul Aman Stadium here today.
He said the state government was still waiting for the decision from the Transport Ministry and believed the feedback would be discussed at the National Transport Council meeting in Kuala Lumpur on March 5.
In another development, Azman said the Malaysia Marine Department (JLM) to perform physical inspection on all passenger ferries to ensure that operators were in accordance with standard operating procedures set out especially before, during and after LIMA’19.
In the 2.45pm incident on Monday, 52 passengers aboard the Dragon Star 1 ferry suffered a huge scare when it caught fire just after leaving the Kuah Ferry Terminal in Langkawi and heading to Kuala Perlis. They were all rescued by boats and other ferries nearby. – Bernama
