In an audience with the Council of Eminent Persons today, Penang Forum proposed doing away with megaprojects like the Penang underwater tunnel and upgrading existing facilities like the ferry service instead.
It also urged a fresh review of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) by an international body.
Steering committee member Lim Mah Hui spoke to the press after meeting the council at Menara Ilham in Kuala Lumpur.
“We had a very fruitful discussion with the council basically regarding the Penang Transport Masterplan... about its cost and the environmental (impact).
“It focuses too much on megaprojects which may not solve Penang’s transport problems,” he said.
Such megaprojects include the RM6.3 billion Penang underwater tunnel.
“Personally, many of us feel there are better ways of dealing with cross-channel traffic such as using and improving the ferry.
“Now that the federal government has control over it, instead of the underwater tunnel, the government should upgrade the ferry,” Lim added.
Also representing the coalition of NGOs today was Penang city councillor Khoo Salma Nasution.
“Public transport should not just be (about) megaprojects but a comprehensive system which is seamless, covers the last mile and is accessible to everyone,” she said.
Thus, Lim mooted that an international body like the World Bank or the Institute of Transport and Development Planning (ITDP) perform an independent review of the PTMP.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow previously refuted Penang Forum’s criticism of the PTMP, explaining that it was feasible and beneficial for the state.
Chan had said that key infrastructure projects would be funded by revenue generated from sales of reclaimed land.
He added that projects had taken into account multiple environmental impact assessments previously carried out -Mkini
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