Sheraton Move Brought A Halt To Airport Expansion Says Dap

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An artist’s impression of Penang airport after a proposed expansion of its terminal building to cater to 12 million passengers a year. (Malaysia Airports pic)GEORGE TOWN: A proposed expansion of Penang airport came to a halt when the “Sheraton Move” caused the collapse of the former Pakatan Harapan government, DAP national organising secretary Steven Sim said today in a response to former prime minister Najib Razak.
He said the expansion project had been started by the PH government and had been approved by local authorities in December 2019.
However, the Perikatan Nasional-Barisan Nasional government formed after the Sheraton Move had suspended the project.
“(Even) after Umno and BN took over the federal government in August 2021, the airport expansion project remained suspended and has yet to be revived,” said Sim.
He said transport minister Wee Ka Siong of the BN-PN government had suspended the project.
Sim’s statement was in response to claims by Najib yesterday that he and Barisan Nasional had nothing to do with the delayed project.
In a statement yesterday, Najib had said DAP should “ask your Abah” – a reference to the courtesy title used by Muhyiddin Yassin, who became prime minister in the PN government after the “Sheraton Move”.
In response to Najib’s claim that PH delayed the project to get cronies on board, Sim said qualified companies had been chosen for the project, based on open tenders.
He said current prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and transport minister Wee Ka Siong should revive the project immediately if it was true that Umno and BN never intended to delay the expansion.
Yesterday, Najib had also said DAP should refer to their party chairman Lim Guan Eng, who was finance minister at the time, about project delays. DAP had blamed Najib over delays to the Penang South Reclamation project, RM100 million Penang Hill cable car project, and the airport expansion. - FMT

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