KUCHING: The high prices of flight tickets to Sarawak are not to prevent voters from returning to vote for the upcoming state election.
Petra Jaya Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof slammed the statement by some quarters claiming that the phenomenon of costly flight ticket prices to Sarawak was deliberately designed so that those outside the state do not return to vote is unfounded.
According to him, the issue has already been highlighted to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong for immediate action to be taken.
“First of all, I have brought this issue to the cabinet level and the cabinet has instructed Wee to take immediate action on why ticket prices in Sarawak are so expensive.
“Yesterday, he (Wee) had a meeting with all the airlines and, as a result, he has issued instructions so that they can lower the prices more reasonably,” said Fadillah, who is also the federal Works Minister.
He said this after attending the Leadership Premier Series with more than 60 Universiti Teknologi Mara (Uitm) student representatives at Round Tower restaurant, here on Saturday (Nov 27).
He revealed that one of the reasons for limited flights to Sarawak according to the federal Transport Minister was following the decision made by the Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in terms of health control.
However, Fadillah pointed out that as a result of discussions by Sarawak Transport Minister Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin with SDMC, the number of flights would be increased to 200 to 300 more flights starting this Dec in stages.
“It is hoped that after this there will be a decrease in the prices of flight tickets,’ he said, adding that the prices were determined by the airlines and efforts to request that the prices of flight tickets to Sarawak be lowered had already been made.
