Engage public in RM46 bil Penang Transport Master Plan: Penang Forum

GEORGE TOWN – Penang island’s new mayor’s pledge to engage ratepayers in development projects should include the contentious RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), local civil society group Penang Forum said.

Executive council member Khoo Salma Nasution welcomed the promise by new mayor Datuk A. Rajendran to make ratepayers’ concerns one of his priorities, saying that a review of the mega infrastructure plan should be undertaken due to the issues it has generated.

Khoo said the PTMP was conceived 10 years ago, and since then, there have been many challenges to the state while high technology has reshaped the world.

“The PTMP remains stagnant, oblivious to the needs and shifting patterns of transportation,” she said, citing climate change, economic challenges and political uncertainty as some of the issues in the last decade.

And while the economy has reopened after the Covid-19 pandemic, Penang has endured a worsening rate of congestion, with traffic jams now a daily occurrence.

“Penang has become blind and deaf to the changes taking place in terms of new tech. Look at what Sarawak has adopted,” Khoo told The Vibes, referencing Sarawak’s highly anticipated hydrogen-powered Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART), scheduled to be delivered to Kuching by the second quarter of this year. 

She said the ART, a hybrid bus-and-train vehicle for public transportation, is something Penang could consider, but the authorities “are not willing to accept alternatives to the PTMP”.

Yesterday, Rajendran, who will also be the new Penang Island City Council (MBPP) president come May 5, said that one of his first priorities is engaging the public in development projects.

The PTMP is to be funded by another contentious project, the Penang South Reclamation project, to build man-made islands, which local activists worry will affect the environment and fishermen’s livelihoods and consumers as well in the long run, as fish catch becomes scarcer.

Activists also take issue with the PTMP for emphasising the building of more roads on land-scarce Penang island rather than improvements to its bus system.

Khoo said there are also concerns that the reclamation project would leave the state with more “white elephant” projects.

Khoo’s invitation to Rajendran to include the PTMP as one of his priorities to address comes as video footage from a drone, showing earth-clearing works for Lebuhraya Lingkaran Luar Georgetown, is being shared among locals.

The video, posted by Parti Rakyat Malaysia Penang deputy chairman Teh Yee Cheu on YouTube, shows land clearing works being carried out along a 5.7km stretch of the Air Itam bypass road, cutting through forested hills, right beside established housing residential areas and condominiums.

The bypass is to link Island Glades with the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.

Residents there have complained of noise pollution and expressed worry about landslides since the land-clearing work started.

The Penang Forum, Consumers’ Association of Penang, and the Penang Public Transport Users Association, along with other civil society groups, recently urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the federal government to review the PTMP.

Meanwhile, Aliran president Anil Netto echoed Khoo, saying Penang’s population growth is insufficient to meet the anticipated ridership numbers of the proposed light rail transit, which is part of the PTMP.

Anil added that while new roads may disperse traffic, it will come at the expense of Penang’s greenery, which is crucial for preserving its ecology.

MBPP senior councillor Datuk Francis Joseph, however, has urged the Penang Forum to review their stance, saying the group is standing in the way of projects deemed crucial for the state’s growth.

“For example, we know of a few civil society luminaries who are critical of projects because they own properties in the heritage enclave. They are selfish and they represent a minority segment of our population,” said Francis.

Francis said that any sensitive project would need an environmental impact assessment approval, which the contractor has done.

He said he is willing to have a dialogue with critics, but it has to be transparent and fair to all sides.

The Penang Forum has also been criticised by Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee Chun Kit, who said it had an “ageing problem” given that most of its activists are older people whom he claimed are out of touch with what the younger generation wants.

“Many of my generation (millennials) are working overseas as it pays better. We need projects to better stimulate the economy and to draw more investors. Those who can bring the transfer of tech and those who can offer us more skills in high tech.”

Lee said that if Penang Forum had its way, the island would still look like it did in the 1960s and 1970s.

He urged the group to hold dialogues with youths instead of “going after the authorities”, whom he said have the responsibility to drive the economy and create quality jobs for Malaysians. – The Vibes, April 2, 2023