Dr Ling said although the first two of six berths under phase one were only scheduled to be ready for use by the end of next year, it was possible that they might be operational much earlier.

"Work is ahead of schedule so there is a possibility that the port may begin operations before December. The sooner the better so that we can start collecting money.

"Furthermore, this is in accordance with our call for importers and exporters to use local ports," he told reporters after visiting the site yesterday.

Dr Ling said the Tanjung Pelepas port was expected to play a vital role in the country's economy as there was no more room for expansion of Pasir Gudang port.

He also said a RM100 million access road connecting the port to the Second Link would be ready by May next year and the Government was taking steps to preserve the proposed rail corridor linking the port to the national network.

"We want to preserve the corridor which means that we will have to buy up the land surrounding it to ensure no other development takes place along it," he said.

Dr Ling added that the first two berths would have the capacity to handle 1.2 million TEUs (twenty equivalent units of containers) while berths 3 & 4 are expected to be ready by mid 2000 and the 2 remaining berths by mid 2001 would be able to handle another 3.8 million TEUs.

The port is being developed on a 783ha site by Seaport Terminal (Johor) Sdn Bhd under a privatisation agreement with the Federal Government and the Johor Port Authority.

Under the deal, Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas, Seaport's wholly-owned subsidiary, will undertake construction of the port.