WHETHER in Kulim or 40km north in Sidam Kiri, building an airport in Kedah is still too close to Penang, making the proposed Kulim International Airport (KXP) bad news for the neighbouring state, said small and medium enterprises.

But what’s bad for Penang will be good for Kedah, SME industry leaders said, as they note the impact and spread of development that will favour the northern state which has more land available than highly built-up Penang on the mainland.

Reacting to news that KXP might be built in Sidam Kiri, a small padi farming town near Sg Petani, Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (Samenta) president Koay Chiew Guan said this was still too near the existing airport in Penang, making the proposed development “inappropriate”.

“I can’t say what the real impact will be. The new infrastructure can benefit the nearby community.

“But it will also create competition for the cargo business, which will not be so healthy,” Koay told The Malaysian Insight.

A report recently quoted an unnamed Sg Petani Municipal Council source as saying that the proposed KXP might be built in Sidam Kiri, which is 40km from Kulim itself.

Although Sidam Kiri is some 75km away from the Penang International Airport (PIA) in Bayan Lepas, the Kedah town is still close to Penang, just bordering Tasek Gelugor.

Francis Wong, president of the SME Association of Seberang Prai, said he would welcome a new airport on the mainland as a regular citizen.

“As a mainland resident, I will prefer a mainland airport in Kulim or Sidam Kiri. I won’t have to worry about traffic jams on the Penang Bridge to go to the airport in Bayan Lepas.”

He said even if Kedah insists that this is going to be just a cargo airport, he believes it will eventually become a passenger airport as well. 

“You just need to get approval to start the project and then seek further approval to expand the airport’s function.”

But as a businessman, Wong echoed Penang’s concern on how the proposed Kedah airport will negatively impact on the state.

“There won’t be much difference whether they build it in Kulim or Sidam Kiri, it is still going to be bad for Penang.”

He cited how industrial, commercial and residential development grew in Bayan Lepas and Bayan Baru because of PIA.

The Penang airport, previously known as the Bayan Lepas International Airport, is Malaysia’s oldest airport built in 1935 by the British.

The airport went through a major expansion that saw its runway extended to accommodate Boeing 747s in the 1970s, around the time Penang began its industrialisation.

PIA remains one of the country’s busiest airports for both passengers and cargo.

“If I am looking to set up my factory, I will do it near an airport. We will see this happening in Kulim or Sidam Kiri when the new airport comes up,” Wong said.

“We already see investors going to Batu Kawan (mainland Penang) due to their need to expand. If there is going to be a new airport on the mainland, they may as well go there.”

If Sidam Kiri is the chosen site, he said, Kedah may set up a new industrial zone or even a free trade zone there.

With more land for development, Kedah also has the advantage to offer cheaper land to investors than Penang, which has less land for industrial development, he said.

“Kedah can offer better prices to investors. Kulim’s land prices are cheaper than Batu Kawan’s. Sidam Kiri’s land will be even cheaper.

“Kedah will also offer incentives to attract investors, which was what the late Dr Lim Chong Eu did to develop the industrial park in Bayan Lepas years ago,” Wong said, referring to Penang’s third chief minister who drove the state’s industrialisation.

“So it is going to be bad for Penang, economically. How can it be good? I would say good luck to Penang.”

The privately funded KXP project mooted by Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir’s administration was given the go-ahead by Putrajaya in March.

It is among seven high-impact projects in Kedah detailed in the mid-term review of the 11th Malaysia Plan. It is part of the federal government’s plan to bridge development gaps.

Penang has expressed concerns over the new airport, which will compete with PIA, and could cause the former to lose its cargo business and investors.

Penang, Kedah and the Transport Ministry are set to meet on Tuesday in Putrajaya to discuss the impact of the new Kulim airport. – May 26, 2019.