The Malaysian Insight

PULAU Tioman does not have space to accommodate a new and larger airport, said Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd managing director Badlisham Ghazali.

“The government has looked at it many times. The problem with Tioman is finding a suitable spot to build a larger airport.

“The only way is to extend into the sea, which involves reclamation. This will require an EIA (environmental impact assessment). We won’t get approval,” Badlisham said after a meeting with the Council of Eminent Persons at Ilham Tower in Kuala Lumpur today.

Pulau Tioman in Pahang is best known for its coral reefs and beaches.

A land reclamation project could damage its pristine environment and attract opposition from conservation groups and the local fishing community.

A plan to build a RM120 million airport on the island, proposed in 2003, was shelved by former transport minister Ong Tee Keat six years later over environmental concerns.

Last week, Berjaya Group executive chairman Vincent Tan announced the group would submit a proposal to the government to build an airport in Pulau Tioman to boost tourism.

Tan said the group would finance the construction cost of between RM1.1 billion and RM1.2 billion from its own coffers and loans.

“We will not burden the government, because I think anyone who wants to run an infrastructure project needs to get their own financing and not just ask the government,” said Tan.

Berjaya Air stopped providing flight services to the small Kampung Tekek airbase on the island several years ago.

Pahang Tourism manager Ishak Mokhtar complained last year that tourists could not reach the island during the monsoon season from November to March, as ferry services would be suspended. – June 11, 2018.