KXP PROJECT NOT 'APPROVED', ONLY TABLED FOR ADVICE TO NPPC - PENANG CM

GEORGE TOWN, Oct 29 -- The proposed Kulim International Airport (KXP) project has only been tabled to the National Physical Planning Council (NPPC) for advice, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today.

Chow said that the progress status for the project is currently the same as the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.

“As in the case of the PSR project, we need to comply with a whole list of advice proposed in the NPPC meeting. Similarly, the KXP project also shares the same mechanism,” he told reporters at Penang Hill here.

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Quoting the Ministry of Transport during the recent NPPC meeting, Chow said there would not be any consideration until the National Airport Strategic Plan (NASP) study has been completed.

He also said that a whole list of studies such as the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report and the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report has yet to be completed.

“The PSR project got the ‘approval’ April since last year, but until now there have been no physical works conducted. I believed that the KXP project would have to go through the same thing,” he added.

On Oct 28, Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said that construction for KXP was officially approved during the NPPC chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

According to him, this was the first official approval the KXP project received since it was proposed in 2014.

He also said that the Transport Ministry had made a promise to speed up the NASP study on KXP and would work on its implementation in line with the NASP study.

-- BERNAMA