GEORGE TOWN – The state government should submit a recommendation to the federal government to protect Penang’s iconic ferries as a national heritage, said Penang PKR chairman Muhammed Bakhtiar Wan Chik.
Speaking to The Vibes, Bakhtiar said such a proposition could help protect these vessels from being decommissioned or sold off.
The Balik Pulau MP said that under the National Heritage Act, heritage landmarks needed protection and preservation.
“They cannot be easily discarded like what is happening now,” he said of reports that the Penang Port Commission (PPC) has instructed the port operator, Penang Port Sdn Bhd, to discontinue the service of the two remaining two sea-worthy ferries.
The two ferries were built in Hong Kong and Pasir Gudang in Johor respectively some 61 years ago.
Bakhtiar was informed that the Transport Ministry plans to sell the ferries through an open tender.
Out of the two, one will remain to serve motorcyclists and cyclists until July 2022 before it is phased out to be replaced by two transporters with no capacity for automobiles.
Five “water-buses” have been purchased and are expected to be delivered in July of the same year to serve foot passengers, who number an average of one million annually.
Bakhtiar also said that parliamentarians were confused by Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz’s reply that the PPC was ordered to continue with the “ferry service”.
He said that Penangites were holding their breath on whether the PPC will revert on their earlier decision and allow the iconic ferries to continue, not just the service.
“We want our beloved ferries to continue for both their heritage intrinsic value, our affinity to their sentimental value, and their value to tourism. Nowadays, passengers who ride the ferries are tourists,” he said.
Bakhtiar also said that he agreed with the assertion by PKR vice-chairman and Kebun Bunga assemblyman Jason Ong Khan Lee that the people of Penang need to be consulted before such a major decision is made.
PPSB chief executive officer Datuk Sasedharan Vasudevan said that the port operator is seeking confirmation from the federal authorities following the conflicting report from Parliament.
Sasedharan said that PPSB will take over the ferry service’s operations and its 120 staffers as of January 1, with immediate plans to deploy two catamaran speed boats to ferry foot passengers daily from Butterworth’s Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal to the Swettenham Cruise Terminal near the PPSB headquarters here.
The fares remain the same while the operating hours will be from 6.30am to 11am daily.
The Sultan Abdul Halim and Raja Uda terminals on the island are expected to be upgraded in July 2022.
The ferry service will comprise two transporters for mopeds and cyclists as well as five water-buses for foot passengers.
PPSB is seeking for a revision of the fare structure, as it is injecting up to RM64 million into upgrading the ferry service.
Meanwhile, lawyer S. Raventharan and Ong, who are part of the Lawyers for Justice movement, said that the entire issue is a “joke” to the people in Penang.
“The issue has been mismanaged and the people are laughing. It is like an episode from the Mr Bean television sitcom,” they said.
Ong said that if the federal government has made a mistake, it is honourable for them to repent and make it right for the people.
“Do not have false pride and insist on continuing with the mistake of scrapping the iconic ferry service. To err is human but to forgive is divine,” said Ong – The Vibes, December 17, 2020
