Perak government unable to retain proposed Seri Iskandar airport site - Saarani

IPOH: The Perak government is unable to retain the land for the proposed site to build an international airport in Seri Iskandar as the said land had been sold to a private company and the sales and purchase agreement already signed.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said the state government was unable to do anything about the land as the sale was made legally by the landowner, Perak State Development Corporation (PKNP) to the private company.

"As I've said before, we had planned to use the land to build the airport. However, there is no plan now as the sale has gone through. So, leave it to the private company to develop the area for whatever."

He said this at a media conference after attending the state-level Communications and Multimedia Ministry's Hari Raya Aidilfitri gathering and launch of the 2022 Perak Keluarga Malaysia Community Ambassador programme at Kompleks Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, here, today.

Saarani was asked to comment on Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) vice-president Datuk Hamidah Osman's claim that the Perak government could still save the land for the airport from being sold to a private company.

"There's a need to retain the land for airport construction as there is a caveat (on the property) in the name of the company that purchased the land while the state authorities hold the power to retain the land based on the set restrictions of interest," she said.

-- BERNAMA