International firm to draw up master plan for Kulim airport

JITRA: An international company has been awarded the contract to draw up a development master plan for the Kulim International Airport (KXP), said Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (pic).

“We will make an official announcement on the awarding of the contract for the master plan for KXP soon, ” he said when asked to comment on the development status of the airport after attending the Jalan Padang Sera/Siputeh upgrading project yesterday.

Without divulging details, he said the contract awarding process had taken some time to complete as it had to undergo proper evaluation in a transparent manner.

Mukhriz said work on the proposed site of the KXP has yet to start as the state government was still at the stage of acquiring the land for the purpose.

Meanwhile, he said that several proposed projects such as the Kedah Rubber City in Padang Terap and Northern Gateway in Bukit Kayu Hitam will go ahead as planned by the state government.

“We had completed the planning and strategies by the end of 2019 and it is for us to implement it by this year, ” he added.

Also present at the event was Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun.

It was previously reported that Mukhriz said the state hopes to see the KXP operational by 2024 to meet cargo and logistic needs, especially for Kulim and Penang.

On March 19 last year, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali announced that the government had approved the building of KXP involving foreign investment amounting to RM1.6bil. — Bernama