A GROUP of residents in Penang will take concerns over the multibillion ringgit Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) to the state legislative assembly tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is the first day of debates at the House. It will likely be a small protest, as it is a working day.

“We don’t know how many people can participate. It is going to be a small group of maybe 15 people from several residential areas.

“We will highlight our concerns about the PTMP and Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) project,” Tanjung Bungah residents’ association chairman Meenakshi Raman said at a Penang Forum dialogue on the mega projects today.

Lim Mah Hui of Penang Forum said the RAs expected to send representatives tomorrow were from Sungai Ara, Farlim, Miami Green and Jesselton.

He said the people will attempt to make their grouses heard tomorrow when the assembly sitting starts, after none of the 40 assemblymen and 13 MPs in Penang turned up at the dialogue this afternoon.

“We sent them the invitation on Wednesday. None of them came, not even the opposition reps.”

The state legislative assembly only has three opposition reps – BN opposition leader Yusoff Mohd Noor from Sungai Dua, Nor Hafizah Othman (BN-Permatang Berangan) and Yusni Mat Piah (PAS-Penaga).

“The government backbenchers have to speak out. But how will they be able to raise questions on the PTMP and PIL1 if they don’t understand the issues?” he said.

Only six councillors from the Penang Island City Council and Seberang Prai Municipal Council and PKR, Bersatu and Amanah political appointees attended the dialogue.

In recent times, elected reps received one briefing on the PTMP, but only from the government and project delivery partner’s side.

The PTMP is a comprehensive integrated public transport plan to address Penang’s worsening traffic problem. It proposes new highways and an LRT (light rail transit) line, among others.

PIL1, a RM7.5 billion highway that connects Persiaran Gurney in the north and the second Penang Bridge in the south, is part of the PTMP.

The 19.5km infrastructure is made up of 70% hill tunnels through Penang Hill and the hills of Paya Terubong and Sungai Ara and a 250m cable-stayed bridge across the popular Youth Park, an important green lung and recreational area on the island.

Penang civil groups have criticised the project, as well as the LRT project that will link Komtar in George Town and the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas.

Lim said Penang Forum was not against the PTMP, but merely wanted it to be reviewed as some components were unnecessary, not financially prudent and might become obsolete with future advances in transport and mobility advances.

An argument had also been made that, with the change in federal government, the state government should focus on public transport, such as trams and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, that could be developed at lower costs than LRTs and highways.

“The federal government talks of saving money. What about Penang? Why choose something that is more expensive?” Lim said, adding that the LRT might not even get enough passengers.

Penang Forum’s Khoo Salma Nasution said there were issues with PIL1, such as how the alignment would impact the hills and local communities by changing the landscape of their neighbourhoods and public parks and cause noise and dust pollution.

“Penang will be unrecognisable. There will be an elevated road everywhere,” the prominent Penang civil society activist said.

Latifah Hussainsa of the Penang Island City Council, an appointee from PKR, voiced her support for the efforts to raise awareness on the PTMP.

She said that since the assemblymen and MPs did not turn up for the talk, the civil groups should go directly to the Transport Ministry.

“The elected reps already have their five-figure salaries. You should go straight to the ministry,” she said, adding that Deputy Transport Minister Kamarudin Jaffar is from PKR.

Lim said Penang Forum had already written to the ministry but had yet to receive any reply, and suggested that Latifah assist by bringing up the matter with the top echelon in her party.

He said if top leaders were aware of the veracity of the issue, the matter might even reach the prime minister.

“We are just asking for a review of the PTMP, not a cancellation. If you can help us organise a delegation, we can all go (to Putrajaya to air our concerns).” – August 5, 2018.