Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng wants Penang BN to state its true stand on the Kedah government's proposal to build an international airport in Kulim.

Lim said their clear stance was needed, particularly after state Umno chief Zainal Abidin Osman noted that Penang had nothing to fear and that Lim should not feel ‘threatened’  since he ‘had developed the state well’.

"But on the other hand, state BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow has opposed the proposed Kulim international airport," Lim ( left ) noted.

"Penang BN should get its act together, meet and decide once and for all whether it supports or opposes the Kedah government’s plan to build a new international airport in Kulim," Lim said.

On June 12, Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir sparked a war of words when he announced that Kedah was set to have a new international airport on a 600-hectare plot of  land which would boost economic growth in the northern region.

Mukhriz said the proposal for the new airport had been submitted to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Penang's success

Lim said the  Penang International Airport was in urgent need of an upgrade following double-digit passenger growth over the last six years, reaching 5.5 million passengers in 2013.

Passenger growth is expected to exceed the Penang International Airport’s capacity of 6.5 million passengers by next year, he added.

"This is a testimony to the success of the state government in attracting tourists and investors to Penang as the preferred location of choice," Lim said.

Lim said the federal government could go ahead and build the airport in Kulim after it attends to the much needed upgrading of the Penang International Airport.

"Penang is not afraid of competition, provided the upgrade is done. But the BN federal government should be mindful of wasteful ‘white elephant’ projects such as the empty RM250 million Malacca airport that is empty of flights," Lim noted.

'Vindictive act'

"Failure by the BN federal government to upgrade the Penang International Airport for around RM600 million but spend at least RM2 billion to build a new international airport in Kulim will be seen as a vindictive act to punish Penang for supporting Pakatan Rakyat and rejecting BN," he added.

He said this when referring to what he described as 'the largest mandate in history when Pakatan garnered 68 percent of the popular vote' in the Penang in last year's May 5 general election.