Expert: Relocation of airport example of on-off planning
Published on: Wed, May 07, 2025
By: David Thien Text Size: The parking space at KKIA being utilised by visitors Kota Kinabalu: Sabahans suffered from confusion because with every change of State Government, development plans also got changed or sidelined. An example is the replacement airport for the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), one of the subjects discussed at the NGO Sabar – Kopitiam Council 'Sabah Voices to Action' podcast, recently. It was hosted by talk show stars Adi and Haffisz on 'Sabah's infrastructure and Housing Challenges: No end in sight. What is holding back progress?' Chartered property surveyor Sr. Raja Sundra Lingam @ Sunny Kelvin and engineer Ir. Lo Chong Chiun were guests. Raja said local plans or structural plans are mostly in draft forms, that means nothing is fixed, there is no certainty. 'Tomorrow, the planning authorities can change the plans, if they want to.' Lo said the local plans or structural plans are not gazetted. Raja questioned building or relocating to a new airport in Kimanis which has no good infrastructure linkage to the new airport like travelling to KLIA. 'People will have to travel three to four hours, and those from Kudat may have to sleep overnight, incurring more expenses. 'Fast rail or high speed rail would be needed,' said Raja, adding that in his mind the location is not that suitable although it is very flat in the Kampung Madahan area. He said it is also very close to the SOGT which is a fire risk hazard area. 'KKIA is still able to cater to the airport passenger numbers. So now they have got their act together and said that they will expand KKIA with more money to cater to the rising passenger volume,' Raja said. He noted that in the past, every State government mulled relocating or building a new airport in Sikuati, Kudat, Kota Belud or Tuaran, besides the Kimanis, with interested parties lobbying for the project. Raja spoke about the proposed Private Funding Initiative for railway which is great for tourism but has yet to be realised for public transportation. The PBS government wanted to build a railway connection to the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) and the previous State government wanted to build a railway to Kudat with a new international port. Now there is a proposal for a Pan-Borneo railway when the Pan-Borneo Highway can only be fully completed by 2029. There was even a proposed sky train for the State capital by a politician in the past. Lo spoke on the challenging problems of land acquisition for projects in Sabah. 'If the land is not readily available, then the project just cannot kick off. Then there is the budget issue. 'The weak Land Acquisition Ordinance needs to be updated to be more equitable in public interests as the current compensation matter has to be at arm's length deal so this is very outdated. We need to update the law to benefit more people from easier land acquisition.' He cited the example of building a dam for water supply which until today has not started after changes in government. There was then the proposed Kaiduan Dam and now the Papar Dam still in the pipeline. 'Actually there was a plan to have a Bus Rapid Transportation (BRT) system during the late Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's time which was a long time ago,' said Lo. 'It was allocated RM1 billion but somehow it was not spent, we don't know why. So, in terms of public transportation, we are actually very, very far behind.' Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) is a high-quality public transportation system designed to provide faster and more efficient bus services in cities. It operates on dedicated lanes, has fewer stops, and uses modern buses to improve speed and reliability. It was even reported that a GLC, Warisan Harta, now known as Qhazanah Sabah Berhad was looking into electric buses, and went to visit a factory in China for the purpose. Warisan Harta was also given the mandate to exploit Sabah's hydropower potential but did not develop anything substantial then. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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