.jpg "Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu addresses members of the press during the State Secretariatu00e2u20acu2122s Raya open house in Ipoh June 26, 2019. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Farhan Najib")
IPOH, June 26 — Perak has sought Wisma Putra’s assistance to discuss with the Thai government over the use of its airspace in view with the opening of the Betong airport near the border town of Pengkalan Hulu in 2021.
Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said construction of the airport is 60 per cent completed and it is expected to be ready by next year with the first flight out in the following year.
“Further discussions on this are needed as when the airport is ready, there are bound to be flights that fly over Perak,” he said.
Ahmad Faizal was speaking to reporters after attending the State Secretariat’s Raya open house held at the State Secretariat building here today.
Ahmad Faizal noted that in view of the new airport, the state would need to plan development at the Pengkalan Hulu side.
“We have to start planning on development at our side so we can also benefit from the opening of the new airport,” he said.
On a separate matter, Ahmad Faizal said the state would decide on a case to case basis for proposals on land change.
“The state can change the land use but applications will need to be made to the state executive council and decisions to be made by the exco too,” he said.
He was commenting on reports quoting state executive councillor Paul Yong as saying that the state government was ready to approve change in agriculture land in the Kerian district to housing development if there were applications for it.
He said while the state wants to turn Kerian into a residential city, the main focus was to transform it into a food production valley.
