New LCCT 'no luxury project'

Jan 19, 2009

SEREMBAN: The state government has stressed that the proposed low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT), to be known as the KLIA East @ Labu, is not a luxury project.

It is simply to complement facilities at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said he was confident the RM1.6 billion project would not only benefit the people but also the country, just as other projects such as the Proton Saga national car, the Penang bridge, North-South Expressway and Putrajaya had done.

"In times past, people had criticised the Proton project as a waste of public money, just like the other projects, but now all these 'mega' projects have proved beneficial.

"It is not surprising that when a new 'mega' project is about to begin, it will have its critics but the KLIA East @ Labu is not a luxury project. It is to provide an amenity for the convenience of the public," he said yesterday after handing out Chinese New Year ang pow to patients at the Rantau branch of the Mawar Haemodialysis Centre.
To the many who had questioned the necessity of building and developing the KLIA East @ Labu, he said: "I am confident that AirAsia Bhd and Sime Darby Bhd did thorough research on the project before proposing it.

"The rapid development of the country's low-cost aviation industry is one of the main planks in the argument to have the existing terminal, the LCCT in Sepang, replaced with a new one."