KUCHING: Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (BPSB) has entered into a third interim agreement with the federal government to continue operating the port for another 12 months from January 1, 2025.
The federal government was represented by the Transport Ministry and Bintulu Port Authority (BPA).
“The third interim agreement formalises the extension of the interim period (IP) for BPSB to continue operating Bintulu Port for an additional period of 12 months, commencing on 1 January 2025 and concluding on 31 December 2025 or until the date of coming into operation of Declaration of an Area in the Bintulu district to be a Federal Port (Repeal) Act 2024 and Bintulu Port Authority (Dissolution) Act 2024 whichever is the earlier,” BPSB’s parent Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd (BPHB) said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia .
BPSB had previously entered into an initial interim agreement with the federal government and BPA to continue the operations of Bintulu Port under an interim period of six months from January 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023. This was followed by the second interim agreement which extended the IP by 12 months to June 30, 2024; and subsequently, a further extension of six months until December 31, 2024.
The federal government has agreed to transfer the regulatory powers of Bintulu Port to the Sarawak government, resulting in the port’s change of status from a federal to state port. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on March 22, 2024 to facilitate this transition. The Transport Ministry had presented the necessary legislations to Parliament, and both the Federal Port (Repeal) Bill 2024 and the Bintulu Port Authority (Dissolution) Bill 2024 were passed.
“Currently, the state government, BPA and BPSB are in the midst of finalising the port operation agreement to appoint BPSB as the port operator when Bintulu Port becomes a state port regulated by the Sarawak government,” said BPHB.
In an unrelated development, Borneo Oil Bhd said the effective date for the implementation of the company’s new employees’ share option scheme (ESOS) was December 31, 2024.
Borneo, which owns home-grown fast-food restaurant chain, SugarBun, has established a new ESOS of up to 15 per cent of the company’s total number of issued shares (excluding treasury shares, if any). The new ESOS was implemented following the termination of the existing ESOS.
The new ESOS involves the granting of options to subscribe for Borneo shares to the eligible persons, who include all executive and non-executive directors of the company.
In a separate announcement, Borneo Oil said it had offered 1.5 billion ESOS options to the eligible persons on December 31, 2024. The number of ESOS options offered to the company’s directors was 75 million. The exercise price of the ESOS options is RM0.0055, and the vesting period is three months.
On the date of the offer of the ESOS options, Borneo shares closed at RM0.01.
Borneo is also implementing a bonus issue of warrants of up to about 3.52 billion free Warrants E on the basis of one Warrant E for every four existing company shares held by eligible shareholders on an entitlement date to be determined. The entitlement date is expected to be announced early this month, and the bonus Warrants E are expected to be listed on Bursa Malaysia by end of this month.
As of June 30, 2023 ,the total cumulative of SugarBun and Pezzo outlets was 127, mostly in Sarawak and Sabah. The food and franchise operation was Borneo’s core business, and the group is also involved in resources and sustainable energy, property and management businesses.
In another separate development, Ta Ann Holdings Bhd has appointed Chambai Lindong, 64, as an independent and non-executive director, effective January 1, 2025.
Chambai obtained his Bachelor of Laws Degree from UITM, Selangor, and he has more than 35 years of experience in the legal profession.
“He began his career in July 1988 with a chambering/pupillage in Kuala Lumpur, after being admitted to the High Court of Malaya in May, 1989, he started practicing as an advocate & solicitor and continued working in Kuala Lumpur until December 1990.
“In July 1990, Mr Chambai was admitted to the High Court in Borneo, Sarawak. He then joined a legal firm in Sibu in January 199l where he has since continued his career and is currently practising with Messrs Stephen Robert & Wong Advocates.
“Throughout his career, Mr Chambai has gained extensive experience in a wide range of legal areas, including banking litigation, industrial court practices and Native Court cases,” said Ta Ann.
On September 15, 2022, Chambai was appointed as a member of the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
