The technical committees from both countries are in active discussions and hold meetings every other week, says transport minister

By AFIQ AZIZ / Pic By ISMAIL CHE RUS

The technical committees from Singapore and Malaysia are expected to conclude discussions on the Instrument Landing System (ILS) for Seletar Airport soon, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

Loke said discussions between the technical teams are ongoing and he expects positive progress by March.

“The technical committees from both countries are in active discussions and hold meetings every other week. We hope to have some good progress by next month,” he said after a Cabinet meeting in Putrajaya yesterday.

Previously, Singapore issued new ILS procedures for Seletar Airport, which was scheduled to be enforced on Jan 3.

Subsequently, Malaysia sent a protest note to its southern counterpart over the country’s intention to use the airspace above Pasir Gudang as a flight path for aircraft landing at Seletar Airport.

Loke had said using the limitation on the airspace in Pasir Gudang would affect development in the industrial town, as a building height restriction would have to be imposed.

Pasir Gudang is located just over 2km away from Seletar Airport.

Meanwhile, Loke announced that the Cabinet has approved the standardisation of the road tax insurance for commercial vehicles (CVs) registered in Sabah and Sarawak, beginning April this year.

The plan, which was approved by the Cabinet earlier yesterday, will see all CVs in Sabah enjoying the same rate of what has been implemented to the Sarawak vehicles.

Currently, Sabah CV road tax is subjected to “loaded vehicle” charge, while in Sarawak, the vehicle is charged with “unloaded vehicle” mechanism.

This, he said, has caused Sabah’s CVs to bear higher road tax fee compared to other states.

The operators are asking that calculations be standardised to help them be more competitive and reduce their operating costs. This will also help boost the sector and improve the quality of the services.

Loke said the standardisation is made for the first time since both Sarawak’s and Sabah’s Road and Transport Department joined the federal in 1984 to reduce leakages to the government’s revenue.