Media Statement
Penang needs LRT system with cross-channel link - not more roads and bridge-tunnel
The state government's plan for a New Gurney Drive promenade is just a red herring to divert attention away from the issue at hand. Does Penang really need more another link to allow more traffic to pour into the island?
A "New Gurney Drive" will not be the same. The existing Gurney Drive - known for its sumptous food-stalls and relaxed atmosphere - and Penang are almost synonymous. While it is arguable whether a new promenade farther out will capture the same charm, let us not forget why the existing historical Gurney Drive sea-front is endangered: to make way for feeder roads leading to the proposed bridge-tunnel link (the Third Link).
We maintain that another road link to the island is not necessary. Instead, we should be looking at ways to curb the volume of traffic and to stop traffic pouring into the island, which has a limited carrying capacity. What we badly need is a light rail transit system supplemented by and integrated with an efficient bus service. This we do not have. Such an integrated system should cover the main commuter routes on the island and the mainland. If possible, there should be a train-link or high-speed ferry service across the channel connected to the LRT terminals on the island and the mainland much like Vancouver's Sea Bus ferry service, which is linked to its Sky Train elevated rail service.
Where to find the money for an LRT system? Scrap the plans for the RM2.3 billion bridge-tunnel link as well as the Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) and the Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR), which will likely cost a further couple of billion ringgit. Incidentally, how did the government arrive at the price tag of only RM2.3 billion when, to our knowledge, there has not yet been an open tender for the new link? The money saved from these projects can be used to build the LRT network.
We reiterate our call for the First Link - the ferry service - to be expanded as a short-term solution. Why has there been such a deafening silence from the government on the ferry service? Why can't we have more modern, faster ferrries for now? Is that too easy and too cheap a solution compared to the mega bucks it is willing to pump into the Third Link? Don't tell us the ferries are not economically viable but a RM2.3 billion bridge-tunnel will be. And please tell us the proposed toll rate for this bridge-tunnel now so that the public can have a better idea what they are in for. Surely there would have have been an assumed toll rate in the financial feasibility forecasts for the new link.
Lessons have not yet been learnt from the last financial crisis. The government seems to be indulging again in mega projects, the latest idea being a fancy new building to house the state assembly (the present building looks perfectly adequate and dignified) and all government departments. Funny how there is always a shortage of land for low-cost housing but not for such mega projects like this.
Give us faster, more frequent ferries and an LRT network and spare us more traffic, pollution and tolls. Penang has been known as the Pearl of the Orient. Don't turn it into an Island of Misery. Please scrap the bridge-tunnel project.
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Indeed, the Third Link will create new arteries cutting across the island and along the sea fronts. The additional traffic from these new arteries will spill into George Town's inner city area and other residential areas, further choking Penang's already narrow streets. The state traffic chief has rightly pointed out that without additional roads on the island and mainland, the Third Link will add to Penang's traffic woes. But if more roads are built, the additional traffic and pollution will destroy what's left of Penang's charm and dim George Town's hopes of gaining recognition as a world heritage site. We demand that the EIA report be made public.