GEORGE TOWN – DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng denies supporting any proposal or decision to terminate the use of Penang’s traditional ferries when he was finance minister in the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
He slammed Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong for claiming that both he and DAP’s Anthony Loke, Wee’s predecessor, had agreed to the replacement of the ferries.
Lim said that bringing in catamarans for the cross-channel transportation service was agreed on, but on the condition that the iconic ferries stay.
He said that he and Loke had never proposed ending the ferry service.
In a Facebook post last Thursday, Wee had accused Lim of manipulating the issue, claiming it was the PH government that had proposed for the ferries to be replaced by catamarans.
He said Loke had, during his tenure as transport minister, announced in the Dewan Rakyat on August 1, 2018, that RM90 million would be allocated to Prasarana Malaysia Bhd for this purpose.
However, he added said Loke then said in August last year that the allocation could not be implemented when the PH government decided to negotiate with Penang Port Sdn Bhd to take over the ferry service and invest in a new catamaran.
Wee also disputed why Lim, as finance minister, had not rejected Loke’s proposal, instead giving a larger allocation to the Transport Ministry to buy a roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ferry that can carry cars.
Wee said the allocation of RM30 million that will be given to PPSB next year and in 2022 – in stages of RM15 million a year – is the result of the Transport Ministry’s discussions when his party found that Lim did not provide RM15 million to the ferry services in Budget 2020.
Lim, who is also a former chief minister of Penang, said the ferry service should be maintained as it was iconic and had heritage value to the state.
"I am not against the introduction of catamarans, but it should be run in parallel with the ferry service,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters while accompanying Penang DAP leaders to string a banner – stating the party's support for the traditional ferries to be maintained – outside the defunct Tg Marina Club near the ferry terminal at Weld Quay here.
Lim also called on Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz to reaffirm his remarks in Parliament last Thursday that the service would be continued.
"I heard and so many other parliamentarians overheard in Parliament what Zafrul had spoken."
The ferry should stay, and the people of Penang want it retained, said Lim.
The Penang Port Commission (PPC), the regulatory authority over the port, had earlier announced that the iconic 61-year-old double-decker ferries would be phased out of use by July 2022, with two catamarans replacing them next month.
One of the ferries will be retained until that date to ferry motorcyclists and cyclists, while the other will be up for an open-tender exercise where it is proposed to be converted into either a floating restaurant or museum.
Five water buses and two transporters will replace the existing aging fleet of five ferries. The ferries first came into use in 1959. – The Vibes, December 20, 2020
