GEORGE TOWN – The existing iconic ferries will be preserved and turned into floating restaurants or museums for the tourism sector, said Penang Port Commission (PPC) chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng.
He has rubbished claims by DAP leaders, especially secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, that the ferries will be put to pasture, accusing the party of running a deliberate miscommunication campaign on the issue.
A request for proposals will be announced in the future to convert the ferries for “historical” uses other than public transport, including repurposing them to serve as restaurants or for sightseeing.
"Replacing the old ferry with safer, speedier and more comfortable water buses as a means of public transport, yet retaining the old ferries as a tourist attraction – these were plans initiated during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) era (when Lim was the finance minister)," said Tan in a statement today.
Tan, who is also MCA vice-president and Penang MCA chairman, added that if Lim truly cares for the state, he should refrain from engaging in political manoeuvres by playing the sympathy card to attack the present Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
Tan also cited Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz’s assertion that Lim had never asked for a loan guarantee from the cabinet for Penang’s LRT project when he himself was finance minister, and so, the current federal government should not be accused of cancelling it.
This shows that it was Lim who had sidelined Penang when he was a federal minister, Tan said.
"Leveraging on this scenario, Lim stooped to politicise the decision and accused Putrajaya of 'political vengeance'. Such an outburst is unreasonable," he said.
Lim has taken the PN federal administration to task for cancelling development programmes in Penang, including the RM800 million Penang International Airport (PIA) and RM100 million Penang Hill Cable Car (PHCC) expansion projects.
Penang DAP has also launched a signature campaign to garner support for an objection to the PN government’s move over the ferries and scrapping of other strategic projects. – The Vibes, January 9, 2021
