Sabah hopes capacity at its airports can be enhanced — Mohd Shafie

SANDAKAN (Jan 3): The Sabah government hopes the capacity at several airports in the state can be upgraded in the future to enhance the economy and tourism sector, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal today.

He said the efforts would also enable Sabah to export its products such as sea produce outside the state, particularly to foreign countries.

“We are still facing constraints to export fresh sea products by air as facilities such as cold storage warehouse are insufficient.

“These improvements will not only stimulate the tourism sector in the state but also enhance the economic growth in terms of sea products exports,” he said to reporters after officiating the groundbreaking of the Sandakan Airport expansion project here.

Mohd Shafie also said a good transportation system would enable investors to explore opportunities to expand their operations in the country.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said the federal government through the Finance Ministry would assist in the upgrading of customs facilities at airports such as Tawau and Sandakan to enable the exports of fresh sea products.

“I have also discussed with logistic companies for them to invest in such facilities so that seafood products that are a favourite among the people and have high demand in countries such as Hong Kong and China can be exported directly to ensure their freshness,” he said.

Loke said the services to export sea products directly in Sabah currently is only through Kota Kinabalu.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the ministry would see if there were still space to expand the existing exports in Sabah for the comfort of passengers which are increasing.

“The construction of another airport in Kota Kinabalu (to accommodate the growing number of passengers) require high cost and long construction time.

“If there are more space to upgrade the existing airports, we will do it immediately. Sandakan is the start, then we will look at Kota Kinabalu and Tawau airports,” he said.

The expansion of Sandakan Airport is expected to take 18 months to complete, with an allocation of RM80.9 million and involving the extension of runway from 2,133 metres to 2,500 metres, expanding the parking apron and construction of new taxiway.