Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua wants
action against top managers of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) for
not disclosing crucial information about the KLIA2 site, causing the
project cost to bloat.
At
a press conference at the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today, Pua
said the drawbacks of the move were "conveniently left out" during the
MAHB’s presentation to the government steering committee at a meeting in
April 2008.
"There was specific reference to the site moving from KLIA North to KLIA West, but no good reason was given as to why the site was shifted,” Pua claimed.
"At the April 15, 2008, presentation, no mention was made of the reasons stated in the (1992 KLIA) masterplan as to why KLIA West was unsuitable.”
In 2007, MAHB told government officials that the western site - on which it is building KLIA2 today - was unsuitable as it was made of peat marine overlay, which has poor load-bearing capacity.
Pua had last year pointed out that the need to deal with the poor soil had contributed to the bulk of the RM2.2 billion jump in costs, as well as delays in construction.
Comparing
slides from the MAHB presentation in April 2008 with another by the
corporation in July 2007, Pua said figures appear to have been changed
to support the shift.
In the 2008 presentation, MAHB stated that the northern site had a passenger load forecast of up to 80 million a year, some 20 million fewer than the western site.
However, the 1992 master plan cited in the 2007 presentation states that the northern site can handle up to 105 million passengers a year.
Besides the passenger load, MAHB had also argued in its 2008 presentation that the western site was better as it would allow for a third runway to be built.
"(Dr) Ling Liong Sik was charged in court for the same reason - leaving out data and information (on the Port Klang Free Zone project)," the DAP publicity chief noted.
Transport Ministry blamed
While representatives of the ministries of finance and home affairs and other agencies could not be expected to have the technical know-how to scrutinise the proposal to shift locations, Pua said, the same could not be said about the Transport Ministry.
"As a regulator, it should have been more diligent in the monitoring and not leave everything to MAHB," he said.
According to the minutes, those at the April 15, 2008, meeting were MAHB director Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, representatives from the finance, home affairs and defence ministries and other government agencies, besides stakeholders.
The decision to shift the location was made in 2008, under the watch of then Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat.
MAHB had in a Dec 14, 2011 posting on its website stated that the new site was selected based on the National Airport Master Plan 2008, which "superseded the original KLIA master plan (1992)”.
"Major issues such as location, soil condition, airside/landside connectivity and existing infrastructure were also taken into consideration in the study," MAHB said.
It
said a "detailed and comprehensive study (had been done) involving all
stakeholders, including the Ministry of Transport, Department of Civil
Aviation, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs and all
airlines.
"The original KLIA Master Plan was reviewed so as to take into account the latest developments in the aviation industry such as growth of low-fare airlines and their specific requirements, rationalisation of routes, liberalisation of air service agreements and aviation security requirements."
At
a press conference at the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today, Pua
said the drawbacks of the move were "conveniently left out" during the
MAHB’s presentation to the government steering committee at a meeting in
April 2008."There was specific reference to the site moving from KLIA North to KLIA West, but no good reason was given as to why the site was shifted,” Pua claimed.
"At the April 15, 2008, presentation, no mention was made of the reasons stated in the (1992 KLIA) masterplan as to why KLIA West was unsuitable.”
In 2007, MAHB told government officials that the western site - on which it is building KLIA2 today - was unsuitable as it was made of peat marine overlay, which has poor load-bearing capacity.
Pua had last year pointed out that the need to deal with the poor soil had contributed to the bulk of the RM2.2 billion jump in costs, as well as delays in construction.
Comparing
slides from the MAHB presentation in April 2008 with another by the
corporation in July 2007, Pua said figures appear to have been changed
to support the shift.In the 2008 presentation, MAHB stated that the northern site had a passenger load forecast of up to 80 million a year, some 20 million fewer than the western site.
However, the 1992 master plan cited in the 2007 presentation states that the northern site can handle up to 105 million passengers a year.
Besides the passenger load, MAHB had also argued in its 2008 presentation that the western site was better as it would allow for a third runway to be built.
"(Dr) Ling Liong Sik was charged in court for the same reason - leaving out data and information (on the Port Klang Free Zone project)," the DAP publicity chief noted.
Transport Ministry blamed
While representatives of the ministries of finance and home affairs and other agencies could not be expected to have the technical know-how to scrutinise the proposal to shift locations, Pua said, the same could not be said about the Transport Ministry.
"As a regulator, it should have been more diligent in the monitoring and not leave everything to MAHB," he said.According to the minutes, those at the April 15, 2008, meeting were MAHB director Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, representatives from the finance, home affairs and defence ministries and other government agencies, besides stakeholders.
The decision to shift the location was made in 2008, under the watch of then Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat.
MAHB had in a Dec 14, 2011 posting on its website stated that the new site was selected based on the National Airport Master Plan 2008, which "superseded the original KLIA master plan (1992)”.
"Major issues such as location, soil condition, airside/landside connectivity and existing infrastructure were also taken into consideration in the study," MAHB said.
It
said a "detailed and comprehensive study (had been done) involving all
stakeholders, including the Ministry of Transport, Department of Civil
Aviation, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs and all
airlines."The original KLIA Master Plan was reviewed so as to take into account the latest developments in the aviation industry such as growth of low-fare airlines and their specific requirements, rationalisation of routes, liberalisation of air service agreements and aviation security requirements."
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