KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's 10-year-old international airport has come under criticism from lawmakers for relying on a government handout of 1 billion ringgit ($286 million) each year to fund its operations.
As a major regional aviation hub, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport should be self-sustaining and be able to meet its operational costs, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, a lawmaker with the opposition People's Justice Party was quoted as saying Tuesday (11 Nov) by the New Straits Times.
"The government should explain why the airport is costing the taxpayers so much," he was quoted as saying while debating the government's annual allocation for the airport in the 2009 federal budget in parliament.
N.Gobalakrishnan, another lawmaker from the same party, was quoted as saying by The Star that the Government should consider privatizing the airport _ which is currently run by state-own operator Malaysia Airports.
"This may ease the burden and save costs for the government," he said in the report.
Calls to Abdul Khalid and Gobalakrishnan seeking comment went unanswered.
Azmi Murad, the KLIA senior general manager, declined to comment when contacted Tuesday. He said the finance ministry would respond to the queries in parliament. Finance ministry officials couldn't be immediately reached for comments.
The airport, which opened in 1998 at a cost of 10 billion ringgit, can handle up to 35 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo a year but faces stiff competition from Singapore and Bangkok.
Some 55 airlines now fly to KLIA, which hopes to raise passenger traffic this year to 27.1 million from 26.5 million in 2007 despite the global economic slowdown, Azmi said.
- AP
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