Political Leaders Should Refrain From Disseminating Fiction

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In regard to a Malaysiakini article on Jan 7 titled “PN using weapon called 'Wee' to victimise Penangites - Guan Eng”, the Transport Ministry wishes to address the misconceptions and falsehoods that Lim Guan Eng and Lim Hui Ying have raised to paint a cynical and incorrect perception of several large-scale Penang projects in question under the ministry’s purview.
During a recent press conference in Penang, Guan Eng has falsely claimed that three out of four projects in Penang had been cancelled as a form of “political vengeance” against the state.
This is patently untrue as will be explained in the following:
1. Penang Rapid ferry services
As reiterated several times over the past few months, the Penang ferry service has been restructured in a modernisation drive, not cancelled, in the name of comfort, travel speed, passenger safety, sustainability in maintenance, and long-term viability.
This is to reduce inconvenience to the users of the old ferries, which were prone to breakdowns on an average of once a month. 


As RM30 million had been allocated by the federal government to purchase new water buses and vehicle transporters for the service, an interim complement of two fast ferries will be leased from Prasarana Malaysian Bhd until the new vessels can be brought into service within 18 months.
The modernisation phase will begin with introducing three (passenger-only) water buses from Jan 1, 2021, to be followed by two vehicle transporters that will carry only two-wheeled motorised vehicles (i.e. motorcycles), and bicycles only, to be received in 2022.
The service provider Penang Port Sdn Bhd will expedite the introduction of these new vessels as soon as they are deemed sea-worthy by the supplier.
To preserve and honour the previous ferries as a slice of Penang’s culture and heritage, proposals will be sought to convert them into floating restaurants, museums and/or tourist cruises based on suggestions by various parties, including by Hui Ying in Dewan Negara on Dec 17.
2. Penang International Airport (PIA) upgrade and expansion
On Nov 12, 2020, Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong had answered in an oral reply in Parliament to Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow regarding the upgrade and expansion of the PIA, that the proposed project has not been cancelled.
However, a review of the proposed project will be discussed in consideration of the macro-economic situation given the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on worldwide aviation passenger demand.


During this time of low demand, it was recommended to the Penang state government to first resolve several issues related to the land acquisition that will enable the PIA expansion in the future. 
Prior to this, Wee had also held a discussion with Chow on Aug 27, 2020, to inform that the wide-ranging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic had adversely affected the aviation industry and in turn, the Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) capability to finance the PIA’s proposed upgrade and expansion.
The reality is that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on June 28, 2020, had reported global flights numbers dropping 55 percent in 2020 compared to 2019. The drop in passenger volume for PIA is worse at 78 percent reduction, from 8.256 million in 2019 to 1.816 million in 2020.
Although passenger traffic is expected to recover nominally in 2021, IATA continues to expect that passenger traffic will remain at some 30 percent of capacity and will not recover completely until 2024 due to the lingering pandemic. 
These numbers with their drastic effects on the tourism industry mean that a detailed relook at airports nationwide is extremely important to ensure survivability and sustainability.
3. Light Rail Transit from Bayan Lepas to Komtar (BLLRT)
The Transport Ministry has not cancelled the BLLRT project from Komtar Tower to Permatang Damar Laut as alleged.
On the contrary, the Penang state government has yet to submit the final Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approvals from the Department of Environment and PLANMalaysia in order for the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) to recommend for approval from the Minister for the final railway scheme approval under sub-section 84(6) of Act 715 (Land Public Transport Act 2010).
The ministry had earlier given its conditional approval for the railway scheme of BLLRT subject to the final SIA and EIA approvals.
The Penang State Government had been informed on Nov 10, 2020, that the final railway scheme cannot be approved yet without the requisite SIA and EIA approvals for the entire proposed alignment. By law, the ministry cannot give partial approvals for separate specific portions of the proposed alignment.
Both the EIA and SIA approvals are necessary as the proposed BLLRT alignment will require land reclamation (dubbed Penang South Reclamation) and will affect future expansions of the PIA. The ministry hopes that political leaders would refrain from disseminating fiction for their political gain and provide the real facts to the public.

The ministry continues to welcome the input and suggestions from all state governments with regard to the development and upgrade of public transport infrastructure for sustainability, and comfort and safety for all passengers. - Mkini


The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor (Transport Ministry) and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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