THE Penang government is considering asking the federal government for a RM1 billion soft loan for components of its ambitious Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP). 

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the idea came about after Pakatan Harapan took over Putrajaya in the May 9 polls. 

The soft loan, he said, would enable the PTMP’s project delivery partner SRS Consortium to implement the proposed Pan Island Link (PIL) highway and LRT (light rail transit) from George Town to the airport in Bayan Lepas simultaneously. 

Without the loan, the projects – each estimated to take up to six years to complete – would have to be implemented one after the other, which would burden Penang residents with traffic woes for longer, he said. 

“Both projects are important. With the soft loan, there will be less pressure on funds,” he said after a PTMP briefing for Penang assemblymen and MPs this afternoon. 

The PTMP – a comprehensive multibillion ringgit plan to solve Penang’s worsening traffic problem through highways and integrated public transport – is to be funded by Penang South Reclamation (PSR). 

The reclamation will see three man-made islands reclaimed off the southern coast of Penang Island, which will then be auctioned off to generate funds to implemented the components of the PTMP.

Chow said if Penang could get the loan, the reclaimed land could also be held longer by the state for its value to appreciate. 

“But it is premature to talk about this. We had tabled this at the state exco but the projects have yet to be approved. 

“We should get the approvals first. Then, we can talk about the other matters.”  

The LRT project is awaiting approval. The PIL’s environmental impact assessment report is currently open for public display. 

Earlier, in a reply to a question on the PTMP’s funding model by Bayan Lepas assemblyman Azrul Mahathir Aziz, Chow said the PSR was still the way to finance the ambitious master plan. 

“Some think the federal government can now fund it. Penang thought about it two, three years ago, that perhaps we could hand over the master plan to the federal government for implementation. 

“But now, we know that the chances are slim for the federal government to fund the PTMP,” he said, alluding to Putrajaya’a current austerity drive to pay off the RM1 trillion national debt. 

“But maybe a soft loan, as a bridge loan, can be of some help to Penang,” Chow said. 

He also said the exact cost of the entire master plan had yet to be finalised, and depended on final designs to the infrastructure projects and when they could be implemented. – July 22, 2018.