THE iconic Penang ferry service is to be discontinued because Putrajaya is caught in a one-dimensional thinking that provides it little or no flexibility, said P. Ramasamy.

The Penang deputy chief minister II said the federal government previously rejected a proposal by the DAP-led state government to take over the ownership and management of the ferry system with provision of permits for water taxis.

“The problem with the federal government is that there is no attempt to think out of the box.

“Even if the federal is guarded about its rights, surely a public-and-private model could have been envisaged for the management of the ferry system.

“(This is) a move that would have saved the federal government huge sums of money,” he said in a statement today.

Alternatively, if the federal authorities had bought new ferries to replace the old ones, there would be no need to talk about catamaran today.

“To say that the federal government is unable to meet the spiralling costs of maintaining and refurbishing the iconic ferries is something that cannot be accepted.

“Penang is one of the biggest contributors to the federal government’s revenue, asking RM150 million to reinstate the iconic ferry system is not asking too much.”

The ferry service ends on January 1 and will be replaced by a catamaran service to transport passengers only. A special vehicle transporter will be used to transport motorcycles.

Four-wheelers will have to use the two bridges linking the mainland to the island.

Ramasamy said the rationale by both the Penang Port Commission (PPC) and Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) for abandoning the ferry service cannot be accepted.

The survey by PPSB on the use of the present ferry system is also inaccurate, he said.

“The ferry service is not getting unpopular because of the change in the attitude of passengers but due to the terrible condition of the service.

“The statistics used to justify the transition from the iconic ferry service to catamaran have to be taken at face value.”

He said while he is not against the catamaran service, the ferry system should be retained with fresh infusion of capital for the purchase of new ones. – December 17, 2020.