DEAR chief minister of Penang, Chow Kon Yeow, could you please tell Penangites whether your government’s slogan CAT (competency, accountability, and transparency) is just a gimmick to make Penangites feel good?

You see, your government has set its mind on a mega project to drill tunnels under the sea and through the hills, to build elevated highways and a light rail transit (LRT), to create three huge artificial islands south of the original Penang island. The cost of all these is a whopping RM45 billion.

Admit it or not, at the end of the day, it is the people who will have to fork out all this money in one way or another.  

All the new roads, highways, tunnels, and LRT stations will be connected to existing roads and have an impact on these existing roads.

A traffic impact assessment was done. How is it that your government has put this assessment under the carpet?

Attendees at the forum on this mega project by the Penang Forum on August 25 were told that the forum had asked your government why this assessment was not put on public display. The answer given was that it is not for public viewing.

Now, why is it not for public viewing if the state has nothing to hide?    

This cover of secrecy over the assessment makes a mockery of your CAT slogan. These are not military facilities the details of which must be kept secret from the general public.

You are putting your credibility and integrity at stake by claiming the Penang government practices CAT, and yet on such an important public matter as this mega project, you show Penangites no accountability and transparency by classifying the assessment as a secret document.

Penangites, even those not using the new highways and tunnels, have a right to know how traffic getting onto and off these highways and tunnels will affect them. Will traffic from these new “super highways” and tunnels result in massive jams where they join the existing roads?

The one and only logical conclusion to be made from your government’s keeping the assessment secret is that it contains bad news for Penangites. Prove to us that this is wrong by allowing the public to view the assessment and comment on it. Don’t make a mockery of your oft-touted CAT policy.

Please have the moral courage to honour your government’s pledge about CAT, the slogan that was one of the factors taken into account when voting your government into power overwhelmingly. Do not bite the hands that voted your government into power.

Don’t stoop to the level of the past Election Commission that was shouting “fair elections” when it was putting all sorts of obstacles in the path of the voters. – August 26, 2018.

* Ravinder Singh reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.