PETALING JAYA: Penang’s competitiveness as a manufacturing and tourism hub could be affected if the proposed RM1.6 billion Kulim International Airport is realised, said the state Gerakan leadership.
In a statement, its chairperson Oh Tong Keong (pix) claimed that Penang is now sidelined by the development of Kulim as a manufacturing and logistics centre, and the state has nothing substantial to show despite being ruled by DAP for the past decade.
Oh was responding to reports that the Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali had announced seven high impact projects for Kedah with an initial investment outlay of RM3 billion.
Kulim got the biggest project of a manufacturing hub and an airport as well as a 70km northern corridor highway.
Among the projects which are designed to narrow the development gap in the northern region, are a digital library in Alor Setar and a petrochemical park in Gurun, Azmin reportedly said.
“Penang is the base of DAP while Lim Guan Eng is the former chief minister and present finance minister. But Kedah seems to be receiving one big gift after another. Penang has nothing,“ said Oh.
Oh also pointed out that Penang is a state who pays the second highest amount of income tax, but it does not receive any big federal development allocation since last year.
“The perception that Penang is well developed is flawed and the federal is misinformed about this. The state needs an injection of development capital to progress to the next level of growth.”
Oh said it is inexplicable that Kedah with an estimated population of two million, yet the state has three international airports in Alor Setar, Langkawi and Kulim.
