KOTA KINABALU – Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd (MASB) has been told to hasten the upgrades on Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) after a chaotic incident occurred last night.
Datuk Christina Liew, the Sabah’s tourism minister, said the airport experienced congestion when five aeroplanes carrying a total of 1,098 passengers from South Korea arrived at close intervals.
Liew said the airlines were Jin Air (arriving from Incheon at 9.47pm with 385 passengers); Jeju Air (arriving from Incheon at 9.52pm, 157 passengers); Air Busan (arriving from Busan at 10.40pm, 193 passengers); Jeju Air (arriving from Incheon at 11.25pm, 179 passengers); and T'way (arriving from Incheon at 11.49pm, 184 passengers).
“I have received feedback from tourism players and members of the business community that given the situation, the toilets are glaringly inadequate, and there is a pressing need to extend the terminal.
“I was informed by the KKIA management that all the 10 available counters were opened that night. Clearly, we need more immigration counters, and I think a reconfiguration of the counters is warranted to ease congestion and smoothen the clearance process,” she said in a statement today.
The minister expressed regret that her forewarning of this phenomenon prior to the anticipated reopening of international borders had not been taken up speedily by the relevant authorities.
She called on the KKIA management to start work immediately on extending the existing toilets to cope with the influx of international and domestic tourists.
On July 25, she was informed by MASB that it allocated a sum of RM8.4 million for upgrading the facilities at KKIA, during a courtesy call on her to brief her on the KKIA Optimisation Plan.
Of the figure, RM1.4 million will be spent on improving the public toilets at the airport by adding more cubicles, while the remaining sum will be utilised for other upgrading projects. These include resurfacing of the runway, and upgrading of the commercial lots as well as the PA system.
Delays in tourism licence processing
In another development, Liew also wants the federal tourism ministry (Motac) to surrender the authority to issue tourism licences to the state.
She said she had learnt from local tourism players that they had to wait for months to get their licences as well as to have them renewed.
“I would like to reiterate my call to the federal government to empower Sabah to approve and issue the various types of tourism licensing.
“I have received complaints from applicants that their applications for a new licence or renewal of their existing licence take a long time to be approved by Motac.
“I was informed that when some of them made inquiries at the Motac Sabah Office, they were told to contact Putrajaya directly,” Liew said in a statement today, following a courtesy call by a delegation from the Sabah chapter of the Malaysia Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA) earlier.
In one particular instance, a member of the Sabah chapter applied for a licence for his new excursion van, only to be asked to call Putrajaya when he inquired about the status of his application.
“Whenever I call, I get the same answer – it is still under processing in Putrajaya,” the frustrated member lamented.
The delegation comprised Sabah MCTA chairman Vincent Sia, vice-chairman Amity Wong, treasurer Jimmy Wong Kui Hiung, and committee member Julie Wong.
The Sabah chapter has written a letter to the minister to enlighten her on the problems facing its members, including the illegal operation of unlicensed “white vans” used for transporting tourists from one destination to another.
It was also reported to Liew that a tourism player has been waiting for more than two months just for approval of a change of address and for it to be updated in her tourism operation licence. – The Vibes, August 3, 2023
