GEORGE TOWN – Penang Forum, a coalition of civil society groups in the state, wants Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to intervene in the contentious Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), which many have criticised as being unsustainable in its present form.
Speaking at a joint press conference, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) president Meenakshi Raman and Penang Forum steering committee member Lim Mah Hui stressed that it is time for the federal government to broker a better deal for residents of the island.
The coalition said that the master plan remains an option, but it should not be bloated to the colossal figure of RM46 billion, especially when Anwar himself has refused to take wages for his prime ministership until the economy recovers.
Given the fact that ministers are taking a 20% salary cut, they said, it is time to review the concept and financial costing of PTMP.
Meenakshi said that a study by UK-based traffic and road transport expert Halcrow had provided alternatives to the construction of more highways and the proposed light rail system.
Given the state’s obsession with modern transport systems, they could consider autonomous rapid transit, a system based on maximising bussing the public around.
While agreeing that Penang needs to upgrade its public transport system in the face of worsening congestion on its streets and highways, Meenakshi said that the economic situation in Penang has changed since PTMP was first mooted over a decade ago.
She said that as the world faces an impending recession and property overhang coming out of a pandemic, there is a need to review how projects are constructed, not only through the open tender basis, but in terms of practicality and costing.
“We believe focus should be on building up the (public) bus system in Penang and later upgrading busy routes to street-level rail lines to move people, not vehicles,” she said.
Public transport needs to be upgraded as and when the need arises, not mammoth mega infrastructure when demand is not exactly there, the duo said.
As it stands, Penang has fewer than 400 buses.
They pointed out that long before Singapore started its mass rail transit (MRT) system, it drastically improved its bus service.
Today, the island republic has almost 6,000 buses and the vehicles ferry more passengers than their MRT system.
This would cost only a fraction of the PTMP, Lim said.
“We have consistently pointed out that the projects are bloated and unsustainable,” he said.
“(Project delivery partner) SRS Consortium’s financing model – to raise funds by selling 4,500 acres of reclaimed land off the southern coast of Penang – has failed.”
During the last general election, inshore fishermen came out with PKR, a strategic partner of DAP in the Pakatan Harapan government here, to oppose the reclamation initiative, although PKR agrees with the need to upgrade the transport system, he noted. – The Vibes, December 7, 2022
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