KUALA TERENGGANU, 9 Jan 2009: PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang supports the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s move to upgrade the Sultan Mahmud Airport (LTSM) here to cater for haj pilgrims from three east coast states.
The Marang Member of Parliament said with the airport, haj pilgrims in the three states would be able to board direct flights to Jeddah and no longer need to drive to the KL International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang.
“We support the construction of the airport because haj pilgrims from Terengganu, Kelantan and Pahang no longer need to go to KLIA to take flights to Mecca,” he said at a ceramah in Kampung Tok Nasek here last night.
Direct flights from LTSM to Jeddah started last year after the Terengganu government upgraded the airport with a cost of RM400 million, allowing bigger aircraft such as the Boeing 747 to land and take off.
The project began just after the BN took over the state government from PAS in 2004.
During the last haj season, 5,000 haj pilgrims from the three east coast states flew to Jeddah from LTSM in 18 direct flights.
Hadi, however, questioned what he claimed as the use of state government’s funds to build the airport.
“The fund should have come from the federal government,” he said.
Kuala Terengganu will hold a parliamentary by-election on 17 Jan. The by-election will be a three-corner fight involving BN’s Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, PAS’s Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut and independent candidate Azharudin Mamat @ Adam. — Bernama
