If I were LGE, I'd demand MRT from the federal. Create as much publicity as possible. I think Penang deserves at least an MRT, not even an LRT.

*bs from star*

ONG EU SOON
Kuala Lumpur

itu tokong LGE always plan things without consultation from the people of Penang.

aiya just take the monorail offer lar.
so hard to accept the federal offer meh?

also y must sea tunnel?
cannot build bridge instead? cheaper to build bridge and much more easy to upgrade and maintenance.

Politician sigh.

aiya just take the monorail offer lar.
so hard to accept the federal offer meh?

also y must sea tunnel?
cannot build bridge instead? cheaper to build bridge and much more easy to upgrade and maintenance.

Politician sigh.

“The BN government failed to deliver their promise that could have reduced traffic congestion on the island. Where is your LRT you promised seven years ago?”

You wanna know where? Ask Badawi please. Badawi is the sole reason that all our rail infrastructure was put to a hold.

BUT
BUT
BUT

ON Jan 27, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng unveiled his grand road infrastructure expansion plan costing RM7bil. The plan involved the following four projects:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...70407&sec=focus
1) A 4.6km bypass linking Bandar Air Itam to Lim Chong Eu Expressway;

2) A 6.5km sea tunnel connecting Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam (near Butterworth);

3) A 12km Tanjung Bungah to Telok Bahang paired road; and

4) A 4.2km road from Gurney Drive to Lim Chong Eu Expressway, bypassing the city centre.

The projects are in the final stages of open tender which no one seems to have noticed.

The very next day, the Lim administration unveiled another RM140mil road expansion plan for the 1.5km Jalan Bukit Minyak-Alma stretch. This is the most expensive road expansion project in Malaysia since independence.

The announcements reveal one of the most important developments in Penang politics – the widening gulf between politicians’ policy decisions and the preferences of the people towards specific issues.

They can be added to the long list of policies that failed to mirror public opinion.

The arrogance of the CM shows a continuing trend of declining responsiveness to the public’s policy preferences.

The conventional wisdom that politicians habitually respond to public opinion when making major policy decisions is proven wrong by Lim.

The sea tunnel project, in particular, is deemed a white elephant project by sustainable transit advocates.

With the second bridge, designed to cater for traffic needs until 2022, nearing completion, the tunnel is rendered unnecessary. Why do we need to spend billions of ringgit for a dead-end to Gurney Plaza?

The decision to build the tunnel was rammed through without public debate, especially when there is a genuine concern on how it will affect the Penang port as a transhipment port.

A transhipment port is one where the shipment of goods or containers is loaded onto bigger vessels for the next destination.

Thus, it requires deeper channels up to 18.5m to cater for larger vessels.

The decision to build the undersea tunnel should be based on a feasibility study that evaluates its impact on the growth of Penang port. It should not be pursued for the adrenaline rush of Lim for a political legacy.

Penangites expect the Pakatan state government to restore Penang’s free port status if Pakatan captures Putrajaya.

But the free port status will be meaningless if the Penang port is unable to assume the role of a regional transhipment hub like Singapore or Hong Kong.

Critics have pointed out that Gurney Drive and the surrounding Pulau Tikus neighbourhood are a traffic quagmire during rush hour and weekends and it’s difficult to imagine how the proposed tunnel will solve the problem.

The decision to build more roads instead of improving the public transport system also goes against the motto of Penang Transport Council: Moving the people, not cars.

It also goes against its promise of seeking a new approach in handling public transport and mobility.

The state government has promised to adopt a new vision paradigm in tackling transport, one that moves people away from our dependence on modes of private transport to a more economically and ecologically sustainable public transport system.

The Transport Council, made up of state and city council members, civil servants, university professors, professionals, stakeholders, and members of the public, appears to have allowed Lim to usurp their decision-making authority and to ignore their expertise.

They have allowed Lim to persist in pressing onward all the road construction solutions to the bewilderment of sustainable transit advocates.

Another major decision is how the construction will be financed. According to Lim, no monetary payment or funding will be given by the state, and whatever costs incurred will be recovered through concession, land swapping, toll or any other form.

Costs for the tunnel would be recouped from toll charges expected to be same as those of the Penang Bridge and second bridge, while construction of the roads would involve land swap deals.

Tunneling is a major engineering challenge. A serious risk with underwater tunnels is major water inflow due to the water pressure from the sea above under weak ground conditions.

The tunnel also has the challenge of time – being privately funded, early financial return is paramount.

We have witnessed the concessions given to highway operators in the past which literarily sold out the people and the government.

We do not expect the Penang government to travel this treacherous road again.

We don’t want the ill-thought-out schemes to be driven by corruption and serve as conduits for filching government lands. We want the state government to be transparent and to come clean on the concession and land swap deals.

The state government has dropped all pretences of competency, accountability and transparency when the concession and all the land swapping deals are shrouded in secrecy.

Lim’s unwavering decision to sail against public opinion and then to openly defend his actions is just one aspect of his one-man executive decision process.

Lim is a politician who will not try to persuade the public on the merits of his policy choices.

Rather, he distracts public opinion with the argument that the urgency to defeat BN should take precedence.

Do we need a state government in which the state legislative assembly and public opinion are effectively ignored, so that the CM can decide everything to suit his own ambitions?

This is the betrayal of the highest order. It is unacceptable and must be stopped at all costs. This is a lousy attempt to hold our desire for change to ransom.

Lim wants to use the coming election as a referendum for his policy choice.

If he wins re-election, it will be seen by many, especially those who have made their careers in politics, as a vindication of his ambitious property and construction-centric policy agenda.

ONG EU SOON
Kuala Lumpur

Are you out of your mind or what? Who in the right mind from alor setar kulim sungai petani kepala batas bagan butterworth sungai dua will go all the way to batu kawan to take a bridge for penang? Are thinking right? With the 3rd crossing all the people will use this as their daily commute to penang. Imagine north pebabg people use northern tunnel southern people using the 2nd bridge and the middle part use the 1st bridge. so the traffic can be reduced drastically. No need for the people from northern to flood the 1st bridge. You should ask and comment of badawi for building the bridge on no mans place in the south. Why didnt the bn government before build the lrt or monorail but build the 2nd bridge? That time you all keep quite right? U dont represent most of us penang people. More over u urself said pulau tikus and gurney road get jam on rush hour. Rush hour people going where? Going to bridge to go to mainland  if there is a tunnel at the northern part of the island the people will use the the middle part of people will use the 1st bridge and the south people will use the 2nd bridge a big traffic at green lane road is saved  please think wisely. Most roads in penang are single laned or a 2 lane road joining into a single lane road making a bottle neck jam. Same as at gurney. Please go thru all roads in penang then talk. Fyi the pubpic transportation rapid bus tram lrt mrt monorail all cames under federal so local government cant do anything

Hidup LGE! haria penang haria!

I absolutely objection with the proposal of seatunnel.

Solve the island transportation first ma, implement like LRT or monorail then built more parking space, then realignment of rapid penang to cope with LRT or monorail.

penang island area is only about 1048km2 but our population is about 1500km2 whereby car registration is 2xxxkm2.. that's y all street, main road, highway jam..... 
this only penang worker and penang lang stay.. what bout holiday?? Car bound to penang island shall exceed 3xxxkm2... 

built so many link to penang island for what.. get more jam ka..

second bridge is ok because let those factory worker exit penang island fast during peak hour like 7-9am and 5-7pm... but sea tunnel is at tanjung tokong area.. perhaps that area consider is mild to less worker only and those who working hotel line...

Problem is that it is said Putrajaya shelved monorail project few years ago, only to revive it near election time.

during badawi era, he ceased all those mega projects including this and some kl mega project also.. the reason he given is because our country cant bear the construction cost.. after 308 election penang win by PKR... not so long badawi declared step down.. najib took place.. this 5 years time ruled by najib didnt brings up for monorail project for penang.. (because penang lang vote for pkr ma see what pkr can do anything o not lo, kind of politician way) so now they bring up again for next election to attract penang lang voter...

i dont care who rule penang, BN ka or PKR.. the important thing is bring the penang economic to highest point. upgrade transportation, tourism etc... 

but if PKR rule penang, tokong LGE still can always proposed the project to federal ma, why wan use the fund to built sea tunnel leh??

those PORR, higway link here link there... end up also jam.. because ppl still using car... see the singapore.. no need highway link here link there.. wanna link like roller coaster meh...

Penang itself do not have fund for the tunnel. The tunnel, what they said, is mostly funded by giving reclamation rights for the land not far from Gurney, that will pay for the infrastructure such as tunnel and bypass roads.

Penang wants to run their own bus company for routes that are not served by Rapid Penang, but it is said to be rejected by Putrajaya, as does the proposal to pay RM 10 million for Rapid Penang to offer free bus rides during peak hour.

if i not mistaken the proposal is from china comp, once this things build the main financed shall from china comp, (means we loan again).

the sea tunnel location is at tanjung tokong upper gurney drive a bit.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=n.../20110429145240

Nope. Payment based on 110 acres of reclaimed land from the sea. It is similar to what the previous Penang government did on Jelutong Expressway (now Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu expressway) which was funded by giving the developer the right to reclaim land (325 acres) which is now being developed as "The Light Waterfront".

so same tactic again.

The light waterfront project costing about RM300k (SOHO type) to RM1m onwards per unit.. a lot purchaser (so call investor) is from outside not penang lang.. only few percentage is penang lang.. so housing price still keep increasing, lower income and middle income in penang cant afford to buy penang house.. and now wanna use the same tactic again. give the award company to reclaim land for development, and all development cost on this 110 acres plus profit by that developer bear by purchaser again. and still Penang lang wanna face horrible traffic jam, housing price increasing. Problem still no solve..
this thing is recycle planned.. all hit to our poorest penang citizen..

i'm living this island for more twenty years.. said wana implement tourism, but end up poor transportation, no well planning for tourism, all kelam kabut..

Penang State exco tomorrow should immediately make public the Halcrow Penang Urban Transport Study Report and clarify whether Penangites will be paying toll for 25 years for PORR just to get from one traffic congestion to another congestion after the end of its utility life-span in less than five years

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Penang,  Tuesday):  DAP welcomes the assurance given by Penang Chief Minister, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon yesterday that there is nothing in the Penang Outer Ring Road Project (PORR) which “cannot see the light of day “ (Kwong Wah Yit Poh) and calls on the Penang State Government to make public all studies on Penang’s traffic problems and all documentation related to PORR to underscore his claim, in particular:  

The Halcrow Penang Urban Transport Study commissioned by the Penang State Government in 1997 – a comprehensive review of transportation policy and transport provision in the state – which raises questions about PORR’s transparency, viability and compatibility with sustainable transport and whether the RM1.02 billion 17.8 km PORR would have an utility life-span of less than five years to create one or two Midas at the cost of imposing a 30-year toll burden on the people of Penang.
The expired and outdated 1996 Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report for PORR.
The detailed bid by the PORR concessionaire Peninsular Metroworks Sdn Bhd and the various studies supporting the bid, including breakdown of costs of construction; projections of traffic volumes and toll collections for the 30-year PORR concession.
The new and updated EIA report for PORR to replace the earlier 1996 EIA report which was valid for only two years.  
The people of Penang have been told that the state government had taken measures to keep the PORR toll low and reasonable, reducing the originally proposed toll by 41% from RM1.70 per toll station to RM 1 by sacrificing 31 ha of prime state land worth RM200 million to Peninsular Metroworks Sdn Bhd and 500 acres of reclaimed land on the sea front off Gurney Drive which would be worth some RM3 billion.  

The people cannot just accept without question the bald claim of the State Government that it had successfully reduced the proposed toll rate of RM1.70 to RM1 for each of the four PORR toll stations by sacrificing 31 ha of prime state land the 500 acres of reclaimed land off Gurney Drive, as they are entitled to facts and figures to establish.

Firstly, why PORR cannot be toll-free like the Jelutong Expressway (JEway) whose concessionaire was given  the right to reclaim 132 ha of land for property development, but was not allowed to impose toll or given any prime state land.

Secondly, was the concessionaire being reasonable to ask for RM1.70 toll at each of the four PORR toll stations or was it merely an inflated and extravagant claim so that both Peninsular Metroworks Sdn Bhd and the State Government can both look good for knocking it down to RM1? 

Thirdly, what are the estimated gross profits that will accrue to Peninsular Metroworks Sdn Bhd from the 30-year PORR concession – both from toll collections as well as the 31 ha prime State land and 500 acres of reclaimed land off Gurney Drive?  

Tsu Koon should explain why for such a massive project as PORR, concrete date and studies on it are so wanting, and he should give a full list of the studies which the State Government had commissioned during his 12 years as Penang Chief Minister into the traffic congestion nightmare of the Penang Island – apart from the Halcrow Report on Penang Urban Transport Study 1998 and the ancient Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) study more than two decades ago in 1981.  

What the people of Penang should be most concerned is whether PORR will only have a utility life-span of less than five years, and for the next 25 years, Penangites will be paying toll just to get from one traffic congestion to another congestion – as is the case in some tolled roads in Kuala Lumpur, the “privilege” to pay toll to get into the traffic jam!  The Penang State Exco tomorrow should take the decision to immediately make public the Halcrow Penang Urban Transport Study 1998 and clarify whether Penangites will be paying toll just to get from one traffic jam to another after the expiry of effective five-year utility life-span of PORR after its completion.  

According to the Halcrow Report, the PORR would ease traffic flow and save travel time significantly after its construction. But after eight years, traffic volume would increase so fast that it would overwhelm the capacities of existing roads resulting in reduced vehicle speed and longer travel time. 

The Halcrow Report states: “(There would be) significant improvement in travel conditions following the introduction of the outer ring road. However, these benefits will be eroded over time, such that by 2010, network conditions will be worse than current base year levels.” 

In other words, the nightmare of the Penang traffic congestion is likely to be back to square one not in eight years but probably less than five years after the completion of PORR, as the Halcrow Report was based on the assumption that the PORR would be ready by 2002 and that the third link would have connected George Town with Butterworth with the Northern International Airport on two reclaimed Kedah islands up and operating!  

What Penang needs is an efficient public transport system based on sustainable transport policy, as PORR  is not a medium-term let alone long-term solution to the traffic congestion nightmare on the island.  For medium and long-term improvements, the Halcrow report recognized that a sensible option in promoting continued and sustained growth for Penang would be for the “car adapting to the city” in the case of Singapore, rather than the ‘”city adapting to the car” in the case of Bangkok. 

The JICA Urban Transport study in 1981 had projected the per capita vehicle ownership for Penang to be 6.1 persons per car and 5.7 persons per motorcycle by the year 2000. However, these levels were surpassed even before 1990 and ownership levels in Penang are comparable to developed countries with 3 persons per car. Thus, in the year 2000, Penang had 321 cars per 1000 persons compared to 96 for Singapore and 49 for Hong Kong.  

While the total road length in the state increased by about 38% between 1990 and 2000, the total registered vehicles in the state increased by 107%. Vehicle density thus increased by 1.5 times while the number of vehicles per 1000 persons more than doubled.  

The Halcrow Report recommended that “measures to enhance the bus system should be pursued with great urgency”, but this has clearly been ignored by the State Government.  

The State Exco tomorrow should give immediate attention to the drawing up of a viable public transport master plan that can be implemented in the next two years to achieve the reduction of traffic congestion, considering options like an efficient public bus system, the monorail, LRT, etc, so that Penang can be a role model of sustainable transportation instead of being the latest victim of motorization and the destruction of architecture, heritage and culture.

(28/5/2002)
*Lim Kit Siang - DAP National Chairman
http://www.limkitsiang.com/archive/2002/may02/lks1602.htm

Problem has been brewing since decades ago, and you want those who only took into the power seat for the first term to solve it? And now they came up with a solution and u guys still cow peh cow bu saying solution is not right? Public transprtation is under federal purview. If you want them to be able to implement public transportation like mrt lrt monorail tram, u better put these new ppl into federal seat, instead of the same old shit that has been the federal ppl but do nothing.

Cakap tak serupa bikin. before its all wrong, but now since its going to their pockets its all kosher.

If you have been doing sone reading, you would have known that they did want to improve public transport within the island in the first place. Guess who is sabotaging  their plans? So before spewing shit like mindless bn drones (i am not saying u are one), do some checking beforehand.

during badawi era, he ceased all those mega projects including this and some kl mega project also.. the reason he given is because our country cant bear the construction cost.. after 308 election penang win by PKR... not so long badawi declared step down.. najib took place.. this 5 years time ruled by najib didnt brings up for monorail project for penang.. (because penang lang vote for pkr ma see what pkr can do anything o not lo, kind of politician way) so now they bring up again for next election to attract penang lang voter...

i dont care who rule penang, BN ka or PKR.. the important thing is bring the penang economic to highest point. upgrade transportation, tourism etc... 

but if PKR rule penang, tokong LGE still can always proposed the project to federal ma, why wan use the fund to built sea tunnel leh??

those PORR, higway link here link there... end up also jam.. because ppl still using car... see the singapore.. no need highway link here link there.. wanna link like roller coaster meh...

LGE can propose LRT and MRT all he wants, but at the end of the day, why would the BN led federal government approve such plans? 

if state didnt propose it yet then how is claiming its already rejected?

well they claim to be sabotaged and shift blame everywhere.

The article i linked was from LKS himself, he disputed the 25year study back then on highways instead of transit system and now conviniently change their stories. if it was a bad idea in 2002, with increased population and vehicles, its even worst in 2013.
if you did some reading, they also recently ridiculed BN proposal for lrt/tram.

my concern as a penangite is not excuses, but to get the job done. an effective transit system is long overdue.