Transport Ministry has not received Kulim International Airport proposal

PETALING JAYA (June 12): The Ministry of Transport has not received a proposal on the Kulim International Airport (KXP), said minister Anthony Loke.

This was despite claims by the previous Barisan Nasional-led state government that it was working towards securing approval from the federal government for the airport, reported The Malaysian Insight.

“No proposal has been given to Ministry of Transport. There is no specific proposal on Kulim airport. I have reviewed all the projects by the ministry and no such project on Kulim (airport),” he said.

In August, Kedah state Transport Committee chairman Tajul Urus Mat Zain had reportedly told the state assembly that the project consultant KLIA Consultancy Services Sdn Bhd had presented the airspace plan for KXP to former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

The plan had been submitted through the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority on May 25 last year, reported the New Straits Times, and the ministry and authorities had conducted a feasibility study on the project in 2017.

Meanwhile, the Transport Ministry had also not received a formal application by Berjaya Group to build an airport on Pulau Tioman, Pahang, said Loke.

“It’s just an announcement in the media as far as the Transport Ministry is concerned. We have yet to receive any application from [Tan Sri] Vincent Tan [Berjaya Group founder and executive chairperson] or any proposal on Tioman airport,” he said in a report by The Malaysian Insight.

Tan had announced that the company would submit the proposal to the government and finance its construction, which is estimated to cost up to RM1.2 billion.