TRANSPORT Minister Anthony Loke tonight apologised to passengers who were inconvenienced by a flood at the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas earlier this week.

He was in the Dewan Rakyat reading out his speech addressing points raised on transport issues during a debate on the 11th Malaysia Plan mid-term review, when he went off the cuff with the unexpected apology.

“I understand that went such incidents happen, passengers face inconvenience. I apologise for all the inconveniences faced by the people.

“We promise that we will continue efforts to make sure this does not happen again, especially at an airport where all systems should be running smoothly. 

“An airport should offer its best service to passengers and give the country a good image. When a flood happens at an international airport and pictures are taken, surely the incident will go viral and affect our country’s image.

“I hope we take this as a lesson and Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd (MASB) will see that it does not happen again,” he said.

It was reported that 28 passengers in the departure lounge had to wade through ankle-deep water to board a plane for  Subang on Sunday. The departure lounge was flooded after continuous heavy rains.

RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) thanked Loke for caring for the people and his assurance that such an incident would not recur.  He also commended Loke for apologising.
 
“This is the first time any minister has apologised to passengers like this. We never saw this from the former government,” Rayer said.

Loke said it was only right that he apologise.

“If there are shortcomings and the people were inconvenienced as a result, the operator and the government have to openly acknowledge the mistakes,” he said.

Earlier, Loke reaffirmed the government’s commitment to upgrade the airport to receive 12 million passengers a year.

He said his ministry, the Finance Ministry and MAHB are studying various development and funding models for the airport expansion to be realised in the most cost effective way.

On Penang’s proposal to build an LRT line linking George Town and Bayan Lepas, Loke said the Land Public Transport  Commission needed the state to first secure the necessary approvals before it could process the proposal.

Penang needs to get the detailed environment impact assessment (DEIA) of the LRT approved, as well as the nod from the National Physical Planning Council for the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) porject.

A depot for the LRT project is to be located on Island A of the PSR reclamation off the southern coast of Penang island.

On the RM155 million upgrading of the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal in George Town,  Loke said the ministry was still negotiating with the state government to resolve land issues before project could take off.

“We are optimistic the land issues can be resolved to stimulate the Penang economy, especially the tourism industry,” he said.

Early last month, Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) entered into a joint venture with RCL Development Holdings (Penang) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, one of the largest international cruise operators in the world, to redevelop the terminal. – October 31, 2018.