From Jonker Walk to RM45 BILLION bridge, new Malacca CM the quintessential UMNO CLOWN?

WE have yet another bridge that will span across the Straits of Melaka from the historical city to Dumai in Sumatra.

The bridge will be 48.69km long, plus another 70km on the land at a total of 120km.

The Penang Bridge is only 8.4km over the sea, with the total length of only 13.5km. The longest bridge in the world, the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in Qingdao, China, is but 36.55km long over the water.

In other words, this International Bridge project will easily shame the US and China.

Idris Haron, the new Melaka CM less than half a year in office, is a man of superior foresight and ambition. But to build a RM45 billion bridge? This sum is enough to build many expressways or MRT for several major cities. It has yet to be confirmed whether his claim that of pledged financing from the Exim Bank of China is true. But why such a long bridge to Indonesia>

At the other end of the bridge is a mid-sized town of about several hundred thousand population, not a major commercial or tourism hub by any measure. Those who have visited the town say you can get ready to come home after a short stroll on the beach, a nasi padang lunch and probably after buying a batik or two.

Other than facilitating the influx of migrant workers, i have no idea what else is the proposed bridge good for.

Unless we set up some toll gates to collect tolls from passing cargo ships and tankers, which our country is very good at.

I have a proposal. Why not use just 1% of the construction cost to upgrade the existing Ayer Keroh exit along North South Expressway, building overhead bridges and bypasses so that tourists driving into the historical city can be spared from the 90-minute traffic jam, which is far more practical and economically viable?

An impractical creative idea could be both a laughing stock and fatal disaster.

mysinchew