Work starts on S’kan Airport extension job
Published on: Sunday, December 08, 2019
By: Mardinah Jikur
SANDAKAN: Work on extending Sandakan Airport has commenced and will take 18 months to complete, said Member of Parliament Vivian Wong.
She said an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report would be submitted where there are rivers near the runway, adding taxiway routes would also be included in the works.
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“Last September, we discussed this with the Minister of Transport during the Parliament session in the federal capital and further discussions were held in Sandakan with the parties involved,” she said.
“Work has also been carried out in October for land and site survey and allocations have been received for the extension of the runway,” she added.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the airport extension project is expected to be held in January.
With the extension of the runway, Sandakan Airport will provide the Malindo Air Brunei-Sandakan direct flight services, in addition the Kota Kinabalu-Sandakan flight services that have been provided.
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In addition, it is expected that by next January, Sandakan will receive Taiwanese tourists, who will be vacationing in this town, via a chartered flight.
Vivian said this to the media after finalising the Special Grants Provision for the Sandakan Non-Islamic Religious and Welfare Bodies at the Sandakan Parliamentary Service Centre, here, Friday.
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At the event, 27 houses of worship and non-Muslim charity bodies here received contributions from the federal Ministry of Finance.
Overall, RM60,000 was distributed to 27 non-Muslim houses of worship and charity bodies, in which 22 organisations received RM1,000 each, four received RM2,000 each and one non-Muslim religious body received RM30,000.
Asked about the provision for rehabilitation and enhancement of medical facilities at the Duchess of Kent Hospital Sandakan as announced by the Minister of Finance last May, Vivian said the matter was already underway.
“For the equipment, it is currently in the testing phase before it can be fully used by patients,” she said.
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Last May, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced a RM10.8 million allocation for the purchase of hospital medical equipment for the Duchess of Kent Hospital, (HDOK) Sandakan. On parking at the hospital, he said at this time, no company has been appointed for the work because the Government did not want to rush into it.
Meanwhile, State Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Frankie Poon said short-term plans for the provision of parking lots would be looked into.