PETALING JAYA: A former federal minister has proposed that the new Sabah airport be built north of Kota Kinabalu rather than in Kimanis, which is south of the state capital.
Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who is the Sabah deputy Umno chief, said the new airport could be constructed in either Tuaran, Kota Belud or Kota Marudu.
“If we build the airport in the north, then what would happen is more factories would be set up there (around the airport),” he said in a video uploaded on Facebook.
He said the airport could serve as an economic catalyst for the people in the north of Sabah, which is home to some of the poorest districts in the country.
In August, it was reported that the construction of a new Sabah airport in Kimanis would take three to five years once the state government approves relocating the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) there.
Rahman said if KKIA was moved to the north, the land the airport currently occupies, which is worth around RM2 billion, could be sold for development.
“The money could be used to build other airports and the state would not have to spend a lot to build the new Sabah airport,” he said.
At the same time, the land could be developed to become an extension of Kota Kinabalu’s city centre.
“By relocating the airport, we can, automatically, double Kota Kinabalu city’s size.”
Built in 1986, KKIA serves as Sabah’s main gateway with an annual capacity of nine million passengers. - FMT
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