Let the present KKIA
be for a longer time
According to a news item “
Upgrade road before relocating KKIA: LDP”
(DE 28/11/2019 page 8), there are various important issues linked to the
existing KKIA when some people are thinking that ‘KKIA’ airport be moved elsewhere away from Kota Kinabalu.
There had been talks of moving
KKIA some decades ago and it is still useful and serve the good purpose for the
travellers local and foreign alike.
One of the reasons given for
moving KKIA away was that KK could not have buildings of more than twelve
storeys. But now we have some buildings (new ones also coming up) of 25 storeys
in CBD.
There was later another excuse to
move the KKIA because of TAED at Tanjung Aru Beach. Now that TAED is unlikely
to proceed in the then proposed development, KKIA can actually be expanded to
service increasing number of passengers there.
If TAED had been applied with massive reclamation, the KKIA would be in
a valley in between TAED and the Kepayan hills and the said valley likely be
flooded in heavy rain downfalls.
Also there are many upcoming
luxurious hotels and resorts in and around Kota Kinabalu and so more essential
that KKIA remains where it is. Travellers would be too tired to come to KK in
search of living accommodation if the new “KKIA” be in Kuala Penyu and
there-about. Such new airport so far away from KK would deter tourists to come
to KK especially the road infrastructure linking the new airport is not in
place even with the completion of Pan Borneo highway.
Further it would be a deterrent
for local travel within Sabah to go down so far to Kuala Penyu to fly to
Sandakan and Tawau while retaining KKIA for local travel alone can be
unsustainable. Any international airport
would need to be a connecting destination for both local and international
travel for feasible convenience in terms of costs and time.
Instead of moving KKIA into ‘down
south’ sabah as Sabah is a tourists destination across Sabah, it would be more advantageous
to make more international airports in Sandakan, Tawau and another one in the
interior of Sabah with enlarged facilities for increasing tourists to Sabah.
KKIA at its present location can increase its handling of tourists when a fair
spread across Sabah is done to avoid peak arrivals or departures. In this way
tourism would be better serviced across Sabah although KKIA remains the major
gateway for tourists in Borneo even when the Indonesian capital moves to
Kalimantan.
I hope due consideration be
accorded to our air travel for travellers especially it would be much more
convenient from East Sabah to west Sabah or vice versa with the prompt
completion of Pan Borneo Highway as there is so much to see on the road travel.
Also in this way our hinterland in Sabah would be getting some economic
returns. Also the mixed mobility by air,
sea and the roads would be much to be achieved for sightseeing of tourism
hotspots in Sabah.
Should a much better airport be
required around KK as the proven achievable gateway to Borneo and for easy
access, would Gaya Island be considered as an airport destination given that China
had built a massive airport on reclaimed Spratly island so near to Kota
Kinabalu.
I think when we think of infrastructure
in Sabah since 1963, money or adequate fund is the fundamental issue as it is
lacking whenever the need arises. Talking of the many billions of tourism
earnings annually, the will of the Federal and State Governments to implement
the much needed infrastructure should prevail.
Joshua Y C Kong, 29/11/2019
