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THE Malaysian port industry's corporate social
responsibility (CSR) initiatives have supported
the sector's growth sustainability as well as
helped in nation building.
Not lagging behind other types of businesses,
major ports in the country have carried out CSR
programmes such as workforce development,
societal welfare and environmental protection.
This has helped them retain skilled employees,
attract the younger generation to join the
sector and improve the living standards of the
surrounding community.
The World Business Council for Sustainable
Development defines CSR as the continuing
commitment by businesses to behave ethically and
contribute to economic development while
improving the quality of life of the workforce,
their families and the local community and
society at large.
Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd, located in Pulau
Indah, Port Klang, has spent about RM2mil on the
Poverty Eradication Programme for Pulau Indah
residents since 1995.
This bodes well for the port, as 60% of its
2,500 employees are from Pulau Indah.
Executive chairman Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam said
that as Westports was located in Pulau Indah, it
was only natural that priority was given to the
island's residents. “It is our company
philosophy to provide a better lifestyle for
these residents and eliminate poverty,” he told
StarBiz.
He added that profit, passion and compassion
should be the pillars of any company.
“At Westports, profit means business
sustainability, the ability to control and
expand, as well as satisfactory shareholder
returns.
“We do not want to see Malaysians possessing
very little money, little education, little or
no skills for the marketplace, and a multitude
of health problems and without much opportunity
to improve their lives,” he said.
As a result of Westports' efforts, poverty level
on the island dropped from 62% in 1995 to below
5% last year.
He said as an organisation, the port was also
passionate about its people, especially in
creating total employee satisfaction.
The port ensures employee training at all
levels, and 80% of its staff participated last
year.
Westports has also come up with the garden port
concept where it has done landscaping over 10ha
of its vacant land, developing six themed
gardens which feature 300 varieties of trees and
flowering plants plus three waterfalls.
For Northport (M) Bhd, also operating in Port
Klang, CSR activities are extended to its
stakeholders, employees and their families as
well as the community of Port Klang.
Chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan
Abdul Kader said as a company with a good sense
of ethics in its investments and earnings, the
port believed customer service was an important
component of CSR.
“Our CSR is inclusive of customer relationship
management which aims at keeping our customers
happy and loyal,” he said in an interview.
He said Northport had a dedicated division to
address the needs of its customers on a
consistent manner. “These also include
organising recreational events to allow greater
interaction and networking,” he said.
Basheer said its CSR also involved creating
greater awareness on safety.
“We held a highly successful Zero Accidents
Safety Campaign in February,” he noted.
“The campaign, involving our staff as well as
our vendors, contractors and suppliers, has
resulted in reduction of accidents by 85% since
its launch.”
Northport has launched several safety awareness
campaigns over the years.
Basheer said Northport also helped to keep the
environment clean via the Adopting Port Klang
programme initiated by the Klang Municipal
Council (MPK) in September.
“Later this month we will participate in the
Keep the Beach Clean Awareness and Tree Planting
programmes organised by MPK,” he said.
Regarding employees, he said Northport's recent
Family Day attracted more than 10,000 people,
including staff and their families.
“Next year we will be extending our CSR
programme to schoolchildren and
education-related activities. We will also be
launching the Northport UiTM Book Award 2008 to
recognise excellent UiTM transport and logistics
students as part of Northport CSR Education
Programme,” he said, adding that Northport was
the founding member of Institute Corporate
Responsibility Malaysia.
Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) and the Malaysian
Nature Society in Johor (MNSJ) have recently
agreed to collaborate for the betterment for the
Sungai Pulai estuary.
The collaboration saw PTP donating RM60,000 to
MNSJ.
Among the first projects for the partnership is
a study on the unique bio-ecology system of the
Sungai Pulai estuary and the publication of the
findings in a coffee table book.
PTP chairman Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Othman said
that as the port was one of the major components
of the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), the
development of the area surrounding the port was
crucial.
He said PTP’s development was done in a
sustainable and responsible manner.
“We believe that our development should be
balanced and should co-exist with the
environment. Our company culture is driven by
five main pillars, one of which is promoting
sustainable development.”
The development of Sungai Pulai into a
world-class maritime centre catering to
supporting industries is a good strategy to
compete with other regional maritime hubs.
From its inception, PTP has kept in mind the
welfare and livelihood of the fishermen who used
to occupy its land.
PTP compensated these fishermen with up to
RM300,000 per acre for their land, RM500,000 for
the construction of a new fishing jetty for the
fishing community to replace their old jetties
and RM3.5mil to the fishing association (Persatuan
Nelayan Johor Selatan) to be distributed to all
their registered members.
The port also spent about RM90mil to resettle
them in a new township.
Since 2000, the company has been awarding the
contract for waste management of the port to the
fishermen's association there.
In terms of education, PTP has embarked on a
long-term English Language Awareness programme
to help students sitting for the UPSR exam and
donated computers to schools in the surrounding
area. PTP and the local state assemblyman also
provided aid to single mothers and orphans from
the local community during the fasting month
recently. |
