GEORGE TOWN: "Enough has been said. It is time for action now.”
This was Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow's reply to AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes over his tweet on the Penang International Airport (PIA).
Fernandes in his tweet had posted that the PIA was horrible and he felt sorry for the Penang government that despite having done a good job on tourism, the state government could not expand (the airport).
“This is my brief response. A Tweet is meant to be short,” Chow said in response to a question during a site visit to the Sia Boey rejuvenation project here today.
In his tweet yesterday, Fernandes wrote "Penang airport is horrible. I feel sorry for the state Goverment. They have done such a good job on tourism. Yet we can’t expand. And queues are horrible as airport poorly designed. Zero plane for LCC. So many LCC airlines now. And airport tax is RM 75 . Shocking."
Some 30 minutes later, he again tweeted: "Something has to be done with airports. Penang a mess and over-crowded. Kota Kinabalu full and an empty beautiful terminal 2. KLIA well we all know about that. And the management of Malaysian Airports …..”
AirAsia on Friday issued a travel advisory advising those departing the PIA to leave early due to “increased airport congestion”.
On July 3, Chow had expressed hope that the expansion of PIA could be carried out as soon as possible following approval obtained by the Malaysian Airports Holdings Berhad from the Finance Ministry.
PIA recorded 7.79 million passenger movement last year, beyond its 6.5 million capacity per annum.
Chow had said that the state welcomed the expansion plan to increase the capacity to 12 million passenger movement per annum.
Meanwhile, Penang Gerakan chairman Oh Tong Keong said the state government must face up to the accusation by Fernandes pointing to the "horror" long queue and terrible design of the PIA.
In this regard, Oh said the state government must expand PIA as soon as possible, including the construction of a new terminal to deal with the huge demand.
"The PIA is in the process of building a new RM17 million multi-storey carpark with a total height of seven floors and 1,800 parking spaces.
"However, apart from parking lots, the most urgent need of the PIA is to build a brand new terminal," he said.
On his visit to Sia Boey, Chow said the conservation of the Old Prangin Market, archaeological sites and landscaping of Sia Boey rejuvenation project was going on smoothly under Phase Two.
He said the rejuvenation project was launched on March 25 last year to transform Sia Boey into an area that facilitates the co-existence of development and heritage conservation.
“This is to add value to the George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site by enhancing the Outstanding Universal Value with programmes and space created for the local people and restoring the shophouses in future phases," he added.
The project is being undertaken by the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) in collaboration with George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and with other stakeholders like Think City and George Town Conversation & Development Corporation.
Sia Boey project concept is an archaeological park.