THE fate of the Taiping Aerodrome, reputed as being the first airport established in the Federated Malay States and Southeast Asia, where the famous American aviator Amelia Mary Earhart made a refuelling stopover for her round-the-world journey, is hanging in the balance.
With plans seemingly afoot for the sale of 16.1ha of the first airport in the then Malaya to a property developer here, Gabungan Pelindung Warisan Taiping has demanded that Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu clear the air on the matter.
Its chairman, Abu Bakar Mohamed Ali, said the state government had sold a part of the historical place to a property developer without considering the importance of its heritage and historical value, which contributed to Taiping being named a Heritage City.
“This is the first airport in the country built in 1929, which was before the existence of Subang and Alor Star Airports. At that time, this airport was called an aerodrome because it was relatively small.
“But this airport has a special place for the people of Taiping. In its early years, during the British administration, it was used to shuttle British VIPs,” he said after taking part in a protest near the site here yesterday.
One-hundred-fifty people from six non-governmental organisations took part in the protest. They were Kelab Cintai Taiping, Taiping Heritage Society, Taiping Tourism Association, Taman Saujana Residents’ Association, Warisan Anak-anak Kampung Pinang and Protection of the Natural Heritage of Malaysia.
Abu Bakar said the Taiping Aerodrome achieved worldwide fame when Earhart made a refuelling stopover on June 7, 1937 before continuing her journey to Singapore and New Guinea in her historic attempt to circumnavigate the globe.
“She was last seen alive on July 2, 1937 in New Guinea, and until today, she and her plane were never found. Besides that, Malayan Airways and Berjaya Airways had at one time used the aerodrome for commercial flights.”
Abu Bakar added that another significant mark in the history of Taiping Airport was when the then Indonesian president Sukarno and his deputy, Mohammad Hatta, landed at the airport on Aug 12, 1945 to discuss matters regarding the future of Malaya and Indonesia before continuing their journey to Tokyo.
“The duo had stopped here to meet Dr Burhanuddin Helmi and Ibrahim Yaacob, who were leaders of Kesatuan Rakyat Indonesia Semenanjung (KRIS), to talk about the possibility of uniting Malaya with Indonesia (the concept of Indonesia Raya) when the latter achieved independence. The meeting was arranged by Japanese army officers during World War 2.”
Abu Bakar said when the British administration ended, the importance of the Taiping Aerodrome diminished, but it was still used by the army, police and fire- fighters for training on parachuting, logistics dispatch and others.
“More recently, one of the victims of flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine, was flown to his hometown here via this aerodrome.
“Needless to say, it is important to retain this aerodrome as it can be used as a staging point in time of disaster, war or emergency where airplanes can drop medical and food supplies. It will be a fallacy to rule out this possibility.”
Abu Bakar said he found out about the sale of the land from a source and checks with the Taiping Municipal Council and the district officer confirmed that the land had been sold early last month.
“The developer wants to build a housing scheme, but they can’t do so because the status of the land. This is land earmarked for transport and to build homes, they need to convert the status to housing.
“It is true that we haven’t seen the black and white deal, and only found out about this through word of mouth, when the developer came to the airport and showed us the 16.1ha area they claimed they had bought.”