GEORGE TOWN: Civil society leaders have called on the federal government to rethink going through with the proposed Penang light rail transit system, days after Putrajaya announced it would provide funds for the project.
It would be a “financial albatross”, said social activist Lim Mah Hui, who was among the community leaders who called for the massive Penang South Islands reclamation project to be axed as well.
“While we are glad the federal government is going to help fund the Penang Transport Master Plan, we have stated a long time ago that the LRT itself is not the way to go.
“It would be a financial albatross, the government is going to incur massive losses for a long time to come, it is not financially sustainable.
“We hope they do not carry on with the LRT and rethink the master transport plan. As for the plans to scale down reclamation, they should stop that entirely, too,” Lim, a former international banker, told FMT.
The state government has previously estimated it would cost RM9.5 billion to build an LRT network from George Town to Bayan Lepas.
It said the LRT and several other highways would be funded by development of three artificial islands over 17 sq km off the south coast.
On Saturday, however, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Putrajaya would fund the LRT and reduce the scope of the Penang South Islands project.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman said there was no justification to continue reclaiming land if it was no longer needed to raise funds for the LRT.
“Whether it is one island or three islands, it would still be damaging to the environmentally sensitive areas and fish breeding grounds,” she said.
The Consumers’ Association of Penang has said the environment department report had noted the project would cause irrevocable damage.
What about the buses?
Penang Forum’s Khoo Salma Nasution said it was still too early for Putrajaya to get started on the LRT project as other more pressing traffic issues had still not been addressed, like low bus usage.
“If buses are empty, how can the LRT succeed? I think it is premature for the federal government to agree to proceed with the LRT because the Penang government has still not worked on implementing first and last-mile solutions,” she said.
Penang Public Transport Users Association treasurer Zulfikar Aziz said problems like Rapid Penang’s fleet and driver shortages and aging coaches should be solved before work begins on the LRT.
“We believe that the prime minister’s announcement is not in the best interests of Penang’s public transport users as currently, there are still issues involving the degradation of bus services,” he said. - FMT
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