On 28th August 2019 a leaked presentation from Kedah’s Budget 2020 dialogue revealed that the proposed Kulim International Airport (KXP) would sit on a 17 square kilometre plot of land and have two runways. The Star newspaper said that it had obtained the leaked presentation from a closed-door dialogue with Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir and senior public servants and reported that KXP’s development would be financed by sale of an 18sq km plot of land around the proposed airport site.[2] In November 2019 Free Malaysia Today reported that profiteers were trying to cash in on land deals in connection with the proposed Kulim airport. The Kedah state government had not appointed third parties to negotiate with landowners on the value of their property. Mukhriz Mahathir said the involvement of private valuers who were not certified by developers of government-linked companies was extremely regrettable as they were taking advantage of landowners. He said: “They issued notices and invited land owners to attend a briefing on the land acquisition by the government (for the KXP airport development), but, in reality, they are not involved, they just want to become middlemen.” After handing over land title and temporary occupation licences to long-term residents Mukhriz said the third parties claimed to have complete information on the proposed boundary for the airport development, but in fact this matter was still being deliberated upon by the government. He advised landowners to deal directly with the state government adding that the value of relevant plots would be in line with the valuation set by the Valuation and Property Services Department. He said “When it (land acquisition) is undertaken for the benefit of the public, we don’t want the cost of land to skyrocket because in the end this will make a failure of the project…so we will all lose out.”[3]
KXP is a controversial project. In February 2020 Datuk Tan Teik Cheng, vice president of the MCA (Malaysia Chinese Association), a political party, described the project as a potential white elephant, mentioning Mattala Airport in Sri Lanka which has gained the moniker ‘the world’s emptiest airport’. Tan said the Kedah government had mooted KXP as a cargo airport, but that Malaysia does not need a new cargo airport located just 53km away for Penang Airport, the second busiest in the country which handles international freight. He suggested that instead of KXP the Federal Government should improve railway facilities between northern Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur. Mukhriz witnessed a signing ceremony between the CEO of KXP AirportCity Holdings and Aeroport de Paris Ingenierie (ADPI) the firm appointed to draw up a development master plan for KXP. He invited airport investors, operators and concession holders to invest in KXP saying “The risks of uncertainties regarding land acquisition have been settled.” Mukhriz announced that 3,982 hectares of land had been gazetted to KXP and the Federal Government had approved a “large loan facility” for Kedah to acquire the land, currently belonging to private owners [4].
On 19th February 2020 residents of Pantai Cicar village were preparing to protest against the Kulim Airport project. Some residents were feeling sad because land they had occupied for almost 100 years, since the time of their ancestors, would be lost as it was earmarked for construction on the airport. They said their village, that might be taken for the project, contained a mosque they had built and the cemeteries where their ancestors were buried. A committee called on Pantai Cicar residents wanting to protest to come in large numbers to show their support and defend their village from being used for Kulim Airport. A photograph showed a group of residents painting wording on a protest banner.
A notice for a protest rally against Kulim Airport / KXP AirportCity was published. Translated into English the notice reads:
Kulim Airport project protest rally
Date : 28 Feb 2020
Day : Friday
Time : 2.15
Place : Junction into Pantai Cicar village, Sungai Petani
Why is the village affected???
Do not take our village[5]
The protest against KXP took place on 28th February 2020. About 300 residents of Pantai Cicar gathered in front of the mosque to protest against the proposed land acquisition in the village. Mohd Rizal Abdul Ghani, chairman of Jawatankuasa Badan Bertindak Kampung Pantai Cicar, a village action committee, said he had received a notice listing the land lots to be taken for the KXP project, on 10th February. He said the earmarked land including the entire land of the village which contained more than 200 houses, a mosque and cemetery. He said the village was established by their ancestors almost 100 years ago and that villagers were worried that if the project was implemented it would affect the future of residents whose main livelihoods are from rubber tapping, working on oil palm plantations and self employment. Mohd Rozal said the villagers did not object to development and progress but hoped that the project would be implemented in a planned manner without involving village land. A memorandum containing almost 1,000 residents’ signatures was to be handed over to the state government soon. In addition to Pantai Cicar several nearby villages were also listed in the proposed land acquisition, including: Kuala Sedim, Jerung, Kemumbong, Lubuk Kiab, Batu Pekaka and Tanah Licin. The local government and housing committee chairman said the state government would investigate and review the project’s impact on the environment, saying planning was just beginning and there would be a discussion session [6].
A video of the 28th February protest against taking Pantai Cicar village land for Kulim Airport shows a large gathering of people. Some of the banners at the protest written in English read:
OUR LAND FOR NEXT GENERATION AND NOT FOR NEW AIRPORT WHY NEED TO CONSTRUCT NEW AIRPORT AT TRADITIONAL VILLAGES. DON’T TAKE OUR BELOVED VILLAGE. AVOID THE KXP FROM OUR VILLAGE. MOVE THE KXP TO THE PKNK OWN PROPERTY. DON’T DISTURB OUR COMMUNITY WITH NEW AIRPORT PROJECT. OUR LAND FOR NEXT GENERATION AND NOT FOR NEW KXP CITY & AIRPORT WE LOVE STAY UNITY. PLEASE DON’T DIVIDE US WITH SPLIT SETTLEMENT. WE DO NOT NEED NEW AIRPORT AT THIS MOMENT. WE LOVE STAY UNITY. PLEASE DON’T DEVIDE US WITH SPLIT SETTLEMENT DEALING WITH BIAS NOT OUR CULTURE! [7]
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