"Our operations at Tanjung Pelepas Port will not disturb that of Port Klang's, he told reporters after receiving the certificate and the key to the Parallel Processing Building from L & M Corp (M) Bhd executive chairman Datuk Raja Ariffin Raja Sulaiman at Tanjung Pelepas Port yesterday.

Mohd Taufik said Tanjung Pelepas Port, which is located at the south-western tip of Peninsular Malaysia, aims to capture some 10 per cent of total cargo throughput currently handled by Singapore, which equals to some 1.5 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) a year.

It is also targeting to capture transhipment cargo from countries in the region such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

"Upon completion, Tanjung Pelepas Port aims to become the premier transhipment hub in the South East Asian region," he said.

Last year, Johor Port handled some 480,000 TEUs of containers. Officials of the port said there are plans to gradually shift the container operations at Johor Port to Tanjung Pelepas.

On efforts by Johor Port in Pasir Gudang to promote Port Klang as the national load centre, Mohd Taufik, who is also the managing director of Johor Port Bhd, said Johor Port is already feeding cargo to Port Klang.

"About 40 to 50 per cent of our cargo are fed to Westport at Port Klang and Singapore," he said.

Meanwhile, construction work on the Tanjung Pelepas Port is on schedule.

"We will be ready to commence operations by the end of the year as scheduled." Mohd Taufik said.

Mohd Taufik said that he s very satisfied with the progress of the contruction work.

Construction work on the Parallel Processing Building, which started on February 3, is the first in a series of structures to be completed at the port.

The building will house the main control system for the port's operations in the interim period, pending completion of the Port's Administration Building.

"The administration building will only be completed at the end of the year. In the meantime, the Parallel Processing Building will serve as an information technology training centre, providing training for all centres of the port's administration and operations, including container operations, engineering, human resource and finance." Mohd Taufik said.

He added that the main control system at the Parallel Processing Building will be transferred to the port's administration building upon its completion at the end of the year.

"A complete back up system will however remain in the Parallel Processing Building," he said.

Raja Ariffin said L&M Corp is committed to complete the RM380 million port operating facilities contract package awarded to the company in December last year.

Scheduled to be completed in 32 months, L&M's scope of works include civil engineering and infrastructure work in the container stacking area, building work for the port's administration complex, container freight station, port utilities building, sub stations and workshops, and mechanical and electrical things.

Construction of the berths is being handled by Muhibbah engineering (M) Bhd. Raja Ariffin said Tanjung Pelepas is the largest port project handled by L&M Corp so far. Apart from this project, the company was also involved in the construction of Kuching, Sibu and Sarikei ports' expansion.