KIFT finally gets nod from national physical planning council

ALOR STAR: The Kedah Integrated Fishery Terminal (KIFT) project costing RM3 billion has finally been approved by the National Physical Planning Council (NPPC) and is expected to see the first tuna landing next year.
State Investment, Industry and Trade Committee chairman, Datuk Dr Ku Abd Rahman Ku Ismail said the approval was obtained on July 21 at a meeting with the NPPC chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
He said getting the approval was not an easy process and they had to go through a series of discussions with various parties, including the Monitoring Committee, Technical Committee and secretary-general of the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry.
"The state government is very committed to realising this project which can provide 3,000 job apportunities and reaching 10,000 after 10 years of its implementation."
He said this at the state assembly sitting, here, today in reply to questions from Datuk Pahrolrazi Zawawi (PAN-Pengkalan Kundor) on the project.
KIFT is a joint-venture between the Kedah government and Lu Hai Feng Ltd, a company based in Qingdao, China to build various facilifties for the landing and processing of tuna fish.
Fully funded by the private company, the terminal will be the base for the tuna fishing boats operating in the Indian Ocean.
Ku Rahman said the project would be built at a coastal site between Taman Bersatu in Kuala Kedah up to Kampung Tebengau in Mukim Kuala Kedah, involving a total concession area of 2,340ha, including 80% water and sea area.
He said the project would also benefit local fishermen through the existence of a domestic fish landing terminal so that their fishing activities would not be affected, and through the creation of downstream industries which would benefit the local residents.
He added that among the facilities at KIFT would be a seafood industry park, coldrooms and a tuna auction centre, like the one at the famous Tsukiji Market in Tokyo.
To a question from Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (Independent-Ayer Hitam) on whether the project could be expedited, Ku Rahman said there was no reason for any delay by the state government as it had received the full support of the federal government.
"After the approval, we need to go through various evaluations pertaining to the environment, economy, social aspect and traffic," he said. — Bernama