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Air base to move for green zone
2010/05/18
By Adrian David
news@nst.com.my
THE government has served notice for the relocation of the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Sungai Besi.
RMAF chief Gen Datuk Seri Rodzali Daud yesterday confirmed that the air base had been informed of the decision to relocate the base to an area within the Klang Valley.
The force understood the government's intention to commercially develop the federal capital's only airport as part of its urbanisation plans, he said.
Rodzali's announcement shed some light on the future of the country's first airport, popularly known as RMAF Sempang among aviators.
It brings to a close decades of haggling over the 162ha base, which is expected to make way for a multi-million "green commercial zone".
It is understood that the project will be jointly developed by a foreign conglomerate and a government-linked company.
It is also learned that other occupants of the base, like the Armed Forces Recreation Club that houses a nine-hole golf course, the Royal Selangor Flying Club and the Police Air Wing, have been informed.
"The golf club can be retained, with an expansion to 18 holes, as part of the green zone," Rodzali told the New Straits Times.
He also said that Dengkil, which is near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, had been identified as one of the areas for the relocation exercise which could take up to three years in view of its "complexity".
The NST understands that ground works are already being conducted at Dengkil as part of initial preparations for the move.
Rodzali, however, noted that the relocation would not result in "placing all the eggs in one basket".
"Some of the assets and facilities at Sempang will be diverted to existing bases, just like how the navy has done with its establishment.
"This way, we can further develop other bases in the country. It serves as an opportunity for us to move on and expand our existing resources."
Rodzali also said Subang had been earmarked to be the country's main air base, given the present scale of development there, while the air force commando base in Bukit Jugra in Banting, would be further developed as an air defence centre.
Subang is home to the RMAF's VVIP jets and helicopters, Hercules C-130s, maritime patrol squadrons and a national disaster air relief centre.
It is also a commercial aviation hub with the birth of the Subang Skypark for air charter and scheduled flights, as well as aerospace component manufacturing, servicing and maintenance plants.
Rodzali admitted that the relocation exercise, which could cost billions, had to be meticulously planned in view of the large assets and infrastructure of the Kuala Lumpur base which houses the RMAF's logistics headquarters and air division. Among the assets there are the bunkered-air defence operations centre, an Army artillery unit, a logistics depot, an equestrian club, the Royal Selangor Flying Club, a shooting range, the Royal Malaysian Police Air Wing, the RMAF's Sikorsky S-61N Nuri and VVIP helicopter squadrons, the RMAF Museum, the Armed Forces Recreation Club with a nine-hole golf course, the Institute of Aviation Medicine and newly-built bungalow quarters for senior officers.
The Sungai Besi base itself is surrounded by commercial factories, a new upmarket housing scheme in Taman Seputih, the Kuen Cheng Girls' primary and secondary schools, the Alice Smith International School, a Pernama outlet, Istana Negara, the Jalan Bellamy's enclave of government quarters for senior personnel and a Chinese cemetery where Kapitan Cina Yap Ah Loy was buried.
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mesti ramai developer dah aim tempat tu, sangatla stategik
berebut2 developer nak bina high rise condo la cos of the panoramic view
nnti takda lagi nampak kl skyline view when ur approaching the city from south, kena block lak dgn bangunan tinggi |
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