Private sector footing RM1.6b for Kulim airport - Azmin

Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali has cleared the air surrounding the RM1.6 billion Kulim International Airport, reiterating that the project would be "100 percent" funded by the private sector.

"Who said it was a government (project)?

"In the current economic situation, we need active private participation as the government doesn't have funds to develop (the airport), but the development is needed," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

On Tuesday, Azmin announced that the Kulim International Airport was one of several high-impact projects in Kedah approved by Putrajaya.

He explained that the move to build the airport in Kulim was to facilitate increasing air travel to the northern corridor.

This is because the Bayan Lepas airport in Penang is becoming increasingly congested, and expanding it is not an option due to lack of suitable land.

'More investments for the northern states'

Azmin said the Kulim airport would not affect air travel to Penang. It would only serve as a complementary facility.

He said this was part of Putrajaya's strategy to spread out foreign investments in the country.

"We don't want to focus (investments) only in the Klang Valley, Selangor and Johor. We want to bring more investments to the north and other states," the economic affairs minister added.

On a separate matter, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the initial report on an accident at the Subang Airport would be completed within 30 days.

On Monday, the driver of an airport engineering vehicle was left critically injured after a runway accident involving a private aircraft at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang.

The driver died from his injuries on Tuesday.

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