He said he met the airline companies on Nov 3 to request for lower rates on flight tickets for the polls.

“I asked to lower their prices but they said they find it a burden,” he said in his ministry’s winding-up speech on the Supply Bill 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Earlier, Dr Kelvin Yii (PH-Bandar Kuching) urged Wee to negotiate with the airlines for lower ticket prices to Sarawak for the state election and during festive periods.

Alice Lau (PH-Lanang) also highlighted that the Pakatan Harapan government resolved the issue of discounted flight tickets in 2019 when the previous transport minister had fixed fair prices.

She said she hoped that Wee would follow the steps taken by his predecessor to ensure Sarawakians could go home to perform their duty to vote.

Wee replied that when he enquired about the cheaper ticket prices in 2019, the airline companies had said they could not make any profit after they gave the discounts.

“After facing the pandemic, I had hoped they would do the same (as in 2019). But for them, it’s a burden in terms of sustainability, so I asked them to do their best,” he said.