KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been called to restructure the Civil Aviation Authority (CAAM) by giving a role to the Sabah and Sarawak governments in the agency to deal with the issue of reduced flights and skyrocketing ticket prices.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan said the restructuring includes the proposed creation of three sub regional authorities, covering Sabah, Sarawak and the Peninsula.
“I understand that this is the same situation as the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of UAE with the SubRegional Authority for Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah,“ he said when debating the Supply Bill 2025 at policy level in Dewan Rakyat today.
The Keningau MP said the soaring ticket prices, reaching RM1,000 one way, had reduced the number of tourists to Sabah and Sarawak and affected the local economy of Sabah and Sarawak.
Accordingly, he hoped that the federal government and the relevant minister would take action to deal with the issue of reducing flights and very expensive price of airline tickets.
Meanwhile, Datuk Matbali Musah (GRS-Sipitang) expressed his appreciation of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for increasing the development allocation for Sabah to RM6.7 billion through the tabling of Budget 2025.
He said the matter was proof that the federal government was trying to fulfill the rights of Sabah as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), thus enabling the state to continue development projects in the last year of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) next year
Matbali said with Sabah’s challenging geographical position, the allocation is certainly not enough, but it is sufficient to balance the gap and imbalance that occurs every year.
He said Budget 2025 is also a clear message of the determination of the leadership in Putrajaya to continue trying to bridge the development gap through the provision of basic facilities such as roads, water and electricity.
