Bernama
24th Jan 2008
IPOH, Jan 24 (Bernama) -- Low-cost air services with Singapore could be extended to several cities in Malaysia besides Kuala Lumpur, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said Thursday.
Discussions on this under the bilateral air services agreement will be held soon, and Ipoh will be one of the destinations, he told reporters here after a briefing for Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali on the Ipoh-Padang Besar double-track rail electrification project.
Chan said the government's move follows the interest shown by a number of low cost carriers to service routes between Singapore and several Malaysian cities, adding that these proposals had found favour with the state governments concerned.
The carriers who have shown interest include Singapore-based Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia as well as Malaysia's AirAsia and Firefly.
Jetstar Asia, Tiger Airways and AirAsia begin plying the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route on Feb 1.
Chan said Jetstar Asia has named Ipoh as one of the Malaysian destinations it would like to serve.
On the Ipoh-Padang Besar rail project, he expected it to be completed on schedule within five years as the state governments concerned had given their commitments to resolve all issues relating to land acquisition and squatter resettlement.
The 329 km RM12.485 billion project began on Jan 8.
According to Chan, the 133 km of rail construction in Perak involves resettling 300 squatter families and the acquisition of 1,200 lots.
"This requires the assistance and cooperation of the state government, and the Menteri Besar has given an assurance and directed state officials to resolve the matter," he added.
The government has awarded the project to a MMC Corporation Bhd-Gamuda Bhd joint venture, MMC-Gamuda Joint Venture Sdn Bhd.
Chan said with the completion of the project, Malaysia will have a double-track electrified rail link spanning the length of the peninsula, 635 km between Johor Baharu and Padang Besar.
This will be an integral component of the Asian rail network that will stretch from Singapore to Kunming in China and include the states in Indochina.
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