RM100,000 jetty for Malacca rivermouth

MALACCA: The Malacca government will build a RM100,000 temporary jetty at the mouth of Malacca River for tourists disembarking from cruise ships.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the jetty was necessary as Star Cruises ships had stopped making Malacca a stopover owing to the lack of a jetty for passengers to disembark.

“I was informed that Star Cruises has chosen to bypass Malacca and sail directly to Langkawi as of last month,” he told reporters during a visit to Malacca River recently.

He said the move meant the loss of 3,000 day-trippers from the ship who spent the afternoon sightseeing and shopping.

Besides this, a proper jetty was necessary owing to an influx of medical tourists who arrived by ferry from Sumatra, he said.

“I have received complaints that the present jetty does not cater to tourists and immigration officers treated those disembarking from ferries as Indonesian migrant workers,” he added.

To overcome this, he said the new jetty would have separate counters to deal with migrant workers and tourists.

Mohd Ali said the state would also carry out dredging at the river mouth once every two months rather than once in two years.

The present jetty was used as an exit and entry point by 92,000 people in the first five months of this year.