Penang LRT gets 97% ‘yes’ in public survey

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow speaks at an LRT inspection booth at Komtar in August.

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government said 97% of those who visited a public display on the proposed Bayan Lepas LRT project have given it their thumbs up.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that of the 16,140 visitors who responded to a survey after the first month of the public display, only 380 or 2.35% were against the project.

The two-month public display is ongoing until Nov 19.

Chow said the feedback has been passed to the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD).

He denied a claim by Penang Forum that the questionnaire was “rigged” to support the project, saying those filling up the forms could respond in “any way they liked”.

“If you don’t support, you can say you don’t support. It does not need to be engineered.

“I don’t know who prepared the questions, the state government has no part in preparing the questions, it was probably done in consultation with APAD,” he told a press conference at Komtar today.

Activists group Penang Forum had called the LRT feedback exercise “farcical”, claiming the questions “tricked” responders into supporting it.

It said the survey questions being asked are:

• Do you support the PTMP (Penang Transport Master Plan) as a means of reducing traffic congestion in Penang Island?
• The priority public transport to be built under PTMP is the Bayan Lepas LRT. Will you be using it upon completion?
• Do you support/agree that Penangites should look at public transport as a greener and cheaper way of getting around?

The 30km LRT project will link Komtar to the airport in the south at the cost of RM8.5 billion. The project was recently approved by regulators but has yet to begin, pending a public inspection.

t will be financed through the creation and sale of three artificial islands at a cost of RM46 billion.

NGOs said the LRT might suffer from low ridership, given Penang’s population. They said other smaller systems such as the Bus Rapid Transit or the newer ART (autonomous rail transit) – a train-bus hybrid – were better and more cost-effective.

However, one NGO, Anak Pinang, said the LRT is better in the long run as it would be elevated and use a proven and reliable system. - FMT