Bridge to Dumai: Don’t jump (for joy) too soon

Malacca-Dumai Bridge project could increase the national debt level and a cost-benefit analysis should be done first, said CIMB chief economist Lee Heng Guie.

UPDATED

PETALING JAYA: The federal and Malacca state governments should consider the current economic situation and debt problem before undertaking the Malacca-Dumai bridge project across the Straits of Malacca, said CIMB chief economist Lee Heng Guie.

Lee said the government should conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis before it carrying such a mega-project.

He said it would be an extra burden for the government to contain the increasing national debt because work on the Mass Rapid Transit project had already started.

The chief economist suggested revamping the public transportation system in the country before thinking of a bridge to connect Indonesia.

The 48.69km bridge, crossing one of the busiest international shipping waterway, would be the world’s longest, even without including a 71.2km-long highway to be built between Dumai and Pulau Rupat.

The idea to build the bridge was first mooted in 1995 to increase economic opportunities between Malaysia and Indonesia but halted during the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

Strait of Malacca Partners Sdn Bhd owner Lim Sue Beng had already done a feasibility study on the bridge and presented a paper at the 8th Asean Leadership Forum at Hotel Nikko in Jakarta in May 2011.

The company also appointed the Hunan Provincial Communications Planning, Survey & Design Institute of China to prepare the bridge design.

The project was again discussed during the 10th Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum (CMGF) of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) held in Koh Samui, Thailand, on Sept 12.

Among the matters discussed was the economic potential and strategic positioning of the IMT-GT with the construction of the bridge.

It has been reported that the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China had agreed to finance 85% of the bridge’s cost of about RM44.3billion.

Economically challenging

RAM chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said the project would be economically challenging due to its high cost.

Dr Yeah said even though the project could be implemented through a public-private partnership approach, at the end of the day the financing burden would fall on the government.

“This will indirectly involve taxpayers’ money which should be used for projects to benefit the public,” he said.

Dr Yeah said the government should look into the debt level and budget deficit before thinking of mega projects.

Civil engineering expert Prof Andrew Chan from the University of Nottingham (Malaysia campus) said technically it is feasible to build the bridge but questioned whether there is a demand for such a mega-project.

He added that there were some highways built without public demand and the government should conduct a study to show that the project benefited the public.

Altering the nature of the Straits
Meanwhile, the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) in a published analysis in October 2009 stated that the construction of a bridge across the Straits would hamper the safe movement of ships and traffic flow.

“The presence of the bridge would present an obstacle for the smooth flow of shipping traffic in the narrow waterway.

“The construction and presence of the bridge would not only reduce the speed of ships transiting through the Straits but would also cause difficulty for large container vessels to navigate through,” said MIMA researchers in their analysis.

MIMA also said that the movement and speed of currents would be altered by the presence of pillars supporting the bridge, and could potentially alter the nature of the Straits.

In addition, a bridge over the Straits would also cause an impact to the seabed ecosystems of the areas.

“The project also has the potential to negatively impact the coastal ecosystems at the local level.

“On the Malaysian side of the bridge, the site is near Padang Kemunting, an important nesting area for hawksbill turtles or penyu karah , one of the four species of turtles which nest in Malaysia.

“The earthquake that hit Sumatra should pose as a warning to the safety of the bridge. If the bridge takes a direct hit from another strong earthquake or tsunami, it would likely suffer serious damage,” said MIMA researchers.