Penang's RM8 bil Road & Tunnel project: Contradictions start to appear

Contradictions start to appear when the Penang CM Lim Guan Eng is being queried about the mammoth infrastructure project on the island. Penang has refused to cancel its RM8 billion mega infrastructure project consisting of an underground tunnel and three main highways despite strong objections by civil society group, Penang Forum.

Lim said the state government believed that public transportation was an ideal alternative to move people but it was under the purview of the Federal Government.

Lim told them his hands were tied when it came to public transport so he had no choice but to build roads instead.

“I can’t just leave the situation and twiddle my thumbs, I have to do something to alleviate the congestion,” he said.

He reminded them that public transport is under the purview of the federal government so even if the state wanted to implement any public transport system, they needed the approval of the federal government.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in a two-hour dialogue with Penang Forum members. — Picture by KE Ooi“One example of this is when we proposed to RapidPenang that we will pay them RM10 million to provide free service during peak hours a few years ago and though they had agreed verbally, somehow it never materialised,” he said.

“This clearly shows public transportation is beyond our powers so we do the next best thing, we build roads for traffic dispersal,” he said.

This appears to be Lim's first contradiction. Pakatan leaders have reportedly told the press that they were confident of snapping up at least 140 parliamentary seats in the next GE. Moreover, Lim has conceded that improving public transport is the best solution. The 13th GE is only weeks away and Lim should be confident with his own coalition's prediction that they could form the next federal government.

Hence, it is not wrong for some of the NGOs including the Straight Talk to request for the award to be temporarily stopped because Penang deserves the best solution and not paying through the roof for a second best solution.

Second, what have Lim and his officers done to follow up on the request to Rapid Penang to provide free shuttle during peak hours? It is too early to assume that the federal government would reject the state government's request to run its own public bus system. Any rejection or sort would create a larger political repercussion to the BN federal government. If Lim is serious, some of us would gladly offer our help and assistance to convey and submit his formal request to SPAD and the Ministry of Transport for further consideration.

Third, it is surprising to find Lim giving up so easily after his earlier frustration with Rapid Penang. On record, the bus company did not reject the state's proposal. If Lim could threaten the Election Commission and the Federal Government with a lawsuit for failing to approve the state's request to hold its local government elections, what stops Lim from doing the same if his administration request for a license to operate a public bus system is rejected? A number of NGOs and myself are willing to represent the state in such a lawsuit.

Next, Lim has rejected a proposal suggested in the Penang Transport Master Plan to impose access charges on those who enter Penang without giving an appropriate justification. “I know you want access charges to be imposed for those who enter Penang, like the Singapore system. But, we cannot agree although it was suggested in the (Penang) Transport Master Plan. If you want to hammer us for that, go ahead,” Lim said.

Access charges are commonly implemented to reduce congestion during peak hours and to encourage commuters to use the public transport if possible. Again, it does not make sense for the state government trying to be populist on one hand and trying to implement an expensive short term solution on the other.

Members of the Penang Forum, a coalition of progressive public interest civil society groups, called on the state government to focus on “moving people, not cars” instead. They also questioned the rush to implement the mega projects when priority should be given to public transportation.

Ironically, while Lim has refused to budge on the request of the civil society groups to reconsider the project he has issued a public statement saying that "The PR Penang state government will submit to the will of 1.6 million Penangites, who will decide on the tender award of 4 highway improvement projects of RM 6.3 billion, including South East Asia first underwater sea tunnel from Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam".

(Interestingly, now Lim claims that these project is worth RM6.3 billion instead of RM8 billion. Is the state overpaying for the project by opting to pay through land swap and 30-year concession to collect toll?)

Is the state government going to hold a state wide referendum on the project? Or public approval for the project will be subjected to the outcome of the next GE?

Since the PR coalition consists of 3 major parties e.g. Pas, PKR and DAP; we would like to know if both Pas and PKR are unanimously supportive of the RM8 billion infrastructure project?

If the next GE is to be used as a referendum, should number of seats won or popular votes be used as a yardstick?

A rejection of this project does not mean an automatic support for the BN coalition but Lim and his supporters are trying to put the two together. It may be a double-edged sword. People may still support the PR coalition by voting down Dap candidates (19) and support both PKR (15) and PAS (6) if a new leadership under PKR is willing to listen to the people.

I hope Lim understands the dynamics of Penang politics. Past chief ministers had tried to use the same way to push through unpopular mega projects and had suffered stunning defeats e.g. Dr Lim Chong Eu (Penang Hill development during the 1990 GE) and Dr Koh Tsu Koon (PGCC during the 2008 GE).

It is to his benefit to start being more humble and sympathetic to the plights of the state and its population.

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