He referred to a report by The Malaysian Insight in which Mavcom said klia2 was “never designed as a low-cost carrier terminal and was not a ‘hybrid airport’ as some claimed”.
This was not true as even the official klia2 brochure on the Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) website stated that it was conceived and intended to service low-cost carrier airlines, he said.
“And when the cost of the airport ballooned to RM4 billion from the original budget of RM1.7 billion, it was Deputy Transport Minister Aziz Kaprawi who told both the media and Parliament in 2013 that klia2 was not merely a ‘low-cost carrier terminal’ but a ‘hybrid airport’.
“Is Mavcom telling us that both MAHB and the deputy transport minister had lied about the nature of klia2?”
Slamming Mavcom’s statement to The Malaysian Insight, Pua said: “There cannot be a greater lie coming from the airline industry regulator which was born only a few years after klia2 commenced operations.
“It is worse when Malaysians see how biased Mavcom is, when the latter is prepared to even revise history to justify the above hike.”
On Tuesday, the Petaling Jaya Utara MP had criticised Mavcom for calling klia2 a “permanent second terminal to KLIA”, which he said contradicted the commission’s own references to the airport which was launched in 2015.
Calling this terminology the latest incarnation for what was originally intended to be the new low-cost carrier terminal, Pua chided MAHB for trying to confuse Malaysians to justify the increase in PSC at klia2.
“Malaysians are rightly confused with the shifting terminologies and inconsistent definitions of what exactly is the purpose and intent of klia2.
“Is klia2 a ‘low-cost terminal’, a ‘hybrid airport’ or a mere ‘extension’ of the main KLIA terminal?” he had asked.
In his statement today, Pua, who is DAP national publicity secretary, said Mavcom should download a copy of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on klia2 for its commissioners to read and better understand “the shenanigans” which took place during the design, award and construction of the airport.
“Only then perhaps, Malaysians can hope that Mavcom will stop punishing tax-payers to save MAHB’s skin.”
He added that Mavcom’s claim that it was “unsustainable” for the PSC to be kept at low-cost carrier terminal levels confirmed that the hike was to rescue MAHB from the losses in its klia2 operations.
“It should be remembered that the chief financial officer of MAHB assured PAC that MAHB does not need to raise the PSC above and beyond the prescribed inflation rates to ensure operational profitability. That has clearly turned out to be a lie.
“We will not object to a hike in PSC if it is pegged to the annual inflation rates. However, a hike amounting to 46% to RM73 per international passenger is unacceptable, especially since it is to make the rakyat pay for the follies of MAHB,” he said.