Forum Seberang Perai (FSP) accused the state government of ignoring the needs of residents and industries on the mainland.
The state government had said a new international airport was needed to cater to future growth and had mooted an idea to build it on reclaimed land at Batu Maung or on one of the three proposed reclaimed islands at Permatang Damar Laut.
FSP said it was saddened by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow’s focus on the island’s development and ignoring the needs of Seberang Perai.
“A Seberang Perai airport could benefit major industrial zones and be a catalyst to the growth of greater Penang and the northern corridor area,” its pro-tem coordinator, Saravanan Balakrishnan, said in a statement today..
“We would like to remind the chief minister that he is CM for the whole of Penang, not just the island.”
Saravanan said Chow’s constant worry about the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in pushing for a new airport on the island was near-sighted when the larger industrial areas in Seberang Perai were bigger and in more urgent need of an airport.
He said Chow should look at the larger picture on how an airport in Seberang Perai could benefit major industrial zones at Perai, Bukit Minyak, Batu Kawan and Penang Science Park and going as far as Kulim and north Perak.
“He should request the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority to study the benefits of having an international airport at Seberang Perai instead of doing a feasibility study for an airport at Batu Maung,” he said.
Saravanan said while Chow had stressed that Seberang Perai would be the “ultimate focus” of the state government, there was a lack of action or political will to take advantage of the opportunities on the mainland.
“We now realise that this is a mere campaign rhetoric and the voices of the majority of the mainlanders are ignored by the current state government,” he said.
The airport issue comes at a time when Kedah also wants to build an international airport. The proposed project in Kulim has been given the go-ahead by Putrajaya to be funded fully by private investors at RM1.6 billion and would be built closer to Sungai Petani.
Putrajaya had also said the Penang International Airport would be upgraded to a capacity of 16 million passengers a year and would be financed through a private financing initiative (PFI) at a cost of RM1.2 billion.
FMT has contacted Chow for comments and is awaiting his reply.