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PETALING JAYA: Former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng says his successor’s recent statement in Parliament showed that he had imposed a condition on the Port of Penang Sdn Bhd (PPSB) to keep the iconic Penang ferries in exchange for the allocated RM30 million by Pakatan Harapan (PH). government.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz told Dewan Rakyat that the 30 million ringgit allocated to PPSB to maintain ferry services will be channeled in two installments next year.
“The government will ensure that the Port of Penang is required to continue the iconic Penang ferry service,” he said.
In a statement, Lim said that the 126-year-old ferry service was “saved” as Tengku Zafrul had kept the condition made in writing during the PH administration.
He pointed his guns at Transportation Minister Wee Ka Siong for choosing to do otherwise.
Lim also accused Wee of lying saying that he (Lim) had decided to replace ferries with catamarans, adding that former Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook also denied having made such a decision when he was in charge.
“Can Wee show proof of when and where we both decided to end the Penang ferry service? This is obviously untrue.
“Both Loke and I had repeatedly said that we were not opposed to adding catamarans, as long as the existing ferry service was maintained.
“We recognize its cost and the difficulty of finding a suitable replacement. That is why we insisted that the few remaining ferries be allowed to continue operating. In other words, the catamarans will be operating in parallel with the existing ferry services, ”he said.
He said Penang residents were “betrayed by the dirty policy of MCA leaders” at the Ministry of Transport and the Penang Port Commission (PPC) in the decision to terminate ferry services.
The Penang government had asked Tengku Zafrul to clarify what he meant when he told Dewan Rakyat that the iconic Penang ferry service would continue, with an allocation of RM30 million from the ministry.
This was because it was reported that the port operators were likely to go ahead with their plans to retire all but one of the old ferries at the end of the month. PPSB had said that the new buses and water carriers will be in service in 18 months.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said there was a big difference between what PPSB and Tengku Zafrul presented and this needed to be clarified.
On Tuesday, PPC and PPSB had announced that they would spend RM64 million to buy five new vessels, two of which would carry motorcycles and bicycles.
According to federal port regulators, PPC, the amount would cover the cost of modernizing terminals on the island and the mainland.
One of the last two remaining old ferries will be used to carry only motorcycles until the new ships arrive in 2022. After that, both older ships will be turned into floating museums or restaurants, PPC said.
