GO TO KKIA AND SEE FOR YOURSELF

KOTA KINABALU: Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha has been urged to go down to the ground and personally inspect the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) runway upgrading project.

Putatan MP Datuk Marcus Mojigoh said based on the statement by the contractor of the runway upgrading project, Global Upline Sdn Bhd (GUSB), it showed that the Ministry of Transport (MoT) was irresponsible.

"If the Ministry thinks that the airport is not complete then why allow it to be opened? My question is, is it fit or safe to be used?" he asked here Wednesday.

Mojigoh said that if the work was not completed then the MoT should ask the contractor to finish it.

"If the claim is due É pay and go to the site to see for yourself, don't be lazy.

"If you think you are an important man and cannot go under the sun then as I've said before as practised by other countries if one minister thinks he is not fit then he should know what to do," he said.

Mojigoh said that during the parliamentary debate last month he had raised the airport issue to the Minister who then apologised for the two blackouts and promised to ensure it would not happen again.

"I insisted that he personally visit the site and he agreed. I have called the contractor to cooperate but the contractor told me MoT refused to entertain, not responding to letters sent to the ministry "Instead of solving the problem, the officer in this ministry is creating problem. What do they want? People start asking," he said.

GUSB Chief Adviser Tan Sri Ting Pek Khing had said that they had stopped work on the project effective Monday following a financial dispute with the MoT.

Ting had also claimed that since the MoT had declared the project as "not complete" it meant that the runway, which had been extended and resurfaced, was not safe for use.