KOTA KINABALU: A container storage area and a temporary parking facility for lorries and trailers have been provided to address illegal roadside parking and traffic congestion at the Sepanggar Bay Container Port here.
The temporary parking area, measuring more than 0.4ha, was provided by Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP), said Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Ewon Benedick.
As for the 5.7ha container storage yard, he said it would be developed by Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd.
The move comes following a tragic incident on Oct 18 when a shipping container being loaded onto a trailer along Jalan Sepanggar toppled onto a passing car, crushing the vehicle and claimed the lives of a 53-year-old man and his 24-year-old daughter.
The tragedy raised concerns over traffic congestion, roadside parking of container trailers and safety practices around the area.
Ewon said yesterday the temporary parking area was introduced to address the shortage of parking space for container trailers, particularly when depots in KKIP are full or no longer accept containers after operating hours.
A meeting was held on Friday to discuss enforcement coordination on the prohibition of container trailers parking along the shoulders of Jalan Pelabuhan Sepanggar.
Ewon, who is also the state Minister of Industrial Development, Entrepreneurship and Transport, said short-term, interim and long-term measures had been identified and coordinated by his ministry.
“I was informed that Sabah’s LPKP has taken more than 3,000 enforcement actions between 2024 and 2026, including issuing 2,085 notices for licence-condition violations, 846 warning letters, 82 suspension notices and revoking 16 trailer permits for breaches of regulations, including parking on road shoulders,” he said.
Following the meeting, Ewon inspected the temporary parking facility, which can accommodate up to 50 trailers at any one time.
“This capacity can be increased according to user demand as KKIP has sufficient land available,” he said.
For the long term, he said the entire port area in Sepanggar Bay would be developed into a modern integrated port.
