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GEORGE TOWN: Penang’s RM46 billion transportation master plan (PTMP) has failed and should be abandoned entirely as it has focused more on land reclamation than public transportation as originally intended, a coalition said. member of non-governmental organizations.
The steering committee of the Penang Forum said the failure was obvious after the state government announced that it would allow a private company to reclaim an artificial island, and in stages. This, he said, showed that the project had deviated.
In a statement today, he said that the Penang government should have scrapped the project entirely as there were clear conflicts of interest.
In 2015, Penang had planned to reclaim three islands, and the land will be sold to fund highway and LRT projects. The project was awarded to the SRS Consortium. However, last week, it was announced that part of the first island would be held privately by SRS, through a 70:30 joint venture with the state government.
In a statement, the Penang Forum said the latest news was not a surprise, adding that the facade that PTMP was about transportation infrastructure had now come off.
“Now many can see that he is clearly motivated (only) by land reclamation,” the group said.
He said he had objected to the project being carried out by developers, as SRS was made up of three developers who lacked experience in putting together a proper transportation plan that focused on moving people, not cars.
The group said that by allowing part of an island to be claimed privately, the state would receive funds to pay for a 2.4 km stretch of the controversial 19.5 km Pan Island Link highway and a 5.3 km viaduct. connecting the reclaimed island with the main island. .
He said that more roads was not a progressive idea when the world was trying to cut carbon emissions. He reiterated that the recovery would also cause permanent damage to the main fishing waters.
The Penang Forum said that if the state followed the original transportation plan made in consultation with civil society, called the Halcrow transportation plan, modern bus rapid transit and water transportation systems could have been introduced.
“The Penang government should have terminated its project implementation partner contract with SRS rather than signing a supplemental agreement for something so different from what was originally proposed in 2015.
