THE Penang state government concedes that its refusal to endorse a proposal by the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) to impose charges on private vehicles entering Penang island has caused some NGOs to join BN in opposing the RM6.3 billion traffic dispersal project of three highways and under seabed tunnel.
“This is the price that the Penang PR state government has to pay to ensure freedom of movement, because such a policy of forcing vehicles entering Penang to pay is elitist at best in reserving Penang island only for residents and discriminatory at worst as it bars those who cannot afford from entering the island,” Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said in a recent statement.
“CAP President S.M Mohd Idris’s open personal attacks against me in his response to my invitation to him for a dialogue on the proposed three highways and under seabed tunnel project is disappointing as he failed to respond factually and objectively,” Lim added.
“The state government had begun such public consultations since 2011 and his refusal to engage on this issue only emphasises our point that subjective statements’ relying on mere sentiments do not contribute towards a civil society that stresses on civil discourse.
“I will not indulge in such personal attacks but leave it to the public to judge under the oppressive restraints imposed by the Federal government, whose proposals to overcome traffic congestion in Penang is preferred. I wish to address some solutions to traffic congestion he had suggested which were dealt with by the state government.”
On public transport, Lim said, the state government had tried for the past five years to implement an effective and efficient model including suggestions by NGOs.
Such efforts did not make any headway due to the intransigence of the Federal government and the refusal to co-operate such as BN’s failure to fulfil their 2006 promise of building a monorail, refusal to allow the state government to purchase its own buses to provide bus services and refusal to accept RM10 million yearly from the state government to provide free bus services throughout Penang during peak hours.
“However NGOs like CAP failed to notice that the state government had launched the initiatives such as providing free bus services in George Town as well as across the First Bridge from Seberang Jaya to Bayan Lepas and Balik Pulau.
“By demanding that the state government provide efficient shuttle service to main bus stops from housing estates ignores the fact that this should be addressed to the Federal government.
“We hope that CAP can address the issue of public transport with the Federal government with the same energetic determination and frequency they do against the state government.”
The state government is all for dedicated lanes for buses, bicycles and pedestrians.
However such lanes are not possible to be built under existing congested roads unless there are alternative ring roads around the city.
These three highway projects and the tunnel are being planned to enable existing roads to be converted for dedicated lanes for buses, bicycles and pedestrians in the future.
“CAP is wrong to say that the Transport Masterplan (TMP) does not recommend the building of the three highways and tunnel,” Lim said.
“The TMP released recently clearly shows that the three highways should be completed from 2017 to 2020 and the tunnel completed between 2025 until 2030. As the tunnel takes at least 12 years to complete due to the importance of fulfilling Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) studies, planning work must begin now.
CAP again distorts the present daily usage of 80,000 vehicles on the Penang Bridge to mean that with the introduction of the second bridge and the tunnel, the two additional links will increase vehicle usage to 240,000 vehicles.
“The introduction of new links always reduces the number of vehicles per link and not the other way round. These new links will help to ensure that we do not turn the next generation into a ‘traffic-jam’ generation,” Lim said.
“The state government would have made this clear to CAP if S.M Mohamad Idris had been willing to meet us. However we regret his refusal to do so and despite his closed mind, our doors are still open to him should he wish to engage with us.” -EJ-