Tony says NO to aerobridges, MAHB & Khazanah say YES Sir!

Wee Choo Keong

Member of Parliament for Wangsa Maju

http://weechookeong.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/tony-says-no-to-aerobridges-mahb-khazanah-say-yes-sir/

August 21, 2011 by weechookeong

Tony can now order MAHB, indirectly Khazanah Nasional Sdn Bhd, what to do. As can be seen in the case of KLIA-2 where the original plan was to build aerobridges for the convenience of the passengers including disabled person (OKU). When Tony snapped his fingers and say no to aerobridges, Tan Sri Bashir of MAHB had to also kow tow. Even Khazanah was in total silence. What a powerful man indeed? No wonder AirAsia had a good record of owing more than RM125 million in airport taxes since its inception until recently and MAHB dared not leave a finger to take actions. Read HERE. The outstanding airport taxes were only paid recently after the matter were brought up in Parliament several times. See how powerful is Tan Sri Tony Fernandes/AirAsia and now Air Asia X Sdn Bhd. By the way the original name of AirAsia X Sdn Bhd, which is a more suitable name for Ministry of Transport and Khazanah, was Fly Asian Express Sdn Bhd, in HERE.

I just couldn’t believe it that Tan Sri Tony Fernandes can just order MAHB, a GLC, and MAHB had to kow tow! If this is the case then Tan Sri Bashir should resign and Tan Sri Tony Fernandes should be appointed as the new managing director of MAHB. After all, a year or two after the inception of AirAsia, MAHB had to rush to build LCCT and a few year later renovating it costing more than RM200 million just to accommodate AirAsia. Of course, this was during the honeymoon years after 2003 where everything in the nation was in SLEEPING MODE and Tingkat Empat was calling the shots.

The LCCT was built like a warehouse but with the costs of five stars hotel. Remember Syarikat Fajar Builder Sdn Bhd, from REMBAU, a very famous place in Malaysia, in HERE. Please also read HERE, HERE, HERE.

However, I really am glad that at least a group of concerned citizen came out in protest against MAHB and Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.  Yesterday Mr Murugeswaran of Damai Disabled Persons Association and a group of disabled persons protested at Bangsar LRT station against MAHB. Mr Murugeswaran lambasted MAHB and Tony and his AirAsia: “The decision by MAHB not to include aerobridges in the construction of the new airport is a step backward and taken in the wrong direction. If underdeveloped countries can have aerobridges at their airports, why is Malaysia which is a step away from achieving developed nation status, regressing to third world status infrastructure and service provision?” in HERE.

I fully agree with Mr Murugeswaran’s statements. The interests and well being of the disabled must be taken care of by MAHB and the government. I have never seen in any developed or developing countries when building a new airport without aerobridges just to dance to the whim and fancy of a CEO of a low cost air airline, which is still struggling to keep their nose above water. Of course, certain news portal and MSM have painted a more than rosy picture.

No wonder Khazanah had to say yes to the dirty share swap, which was hatched in absolute secrecy. Presumably, Khazanah had to also say “YES SIR”and quickly take up the 10% share in AirAsia Sdn Bhd, a private limited company with a debt of almost RM90 million, in HERE.

Going by the trend of the super powerful Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, I can’t wait to see him taking over MAHB and thereafter, Khazanah. Then AirAsia can collect airport taxes and be exempted from handing over to MAHB. Of course, we believe in TONY BOLEH in this Boleh Land.