By Stephanie Jacob
In the concluding part of our series on the RM6.3 billion Penang tunnel and roads project, our writer opines that chief minister Lim Guan Eng still has questions to answer. Among them: Is the consortium awarded the project being overpaid by giving them both the 30-year toll concession and the 110 acres of reclaimed land? Should it not be one or the other?
The proposed RM6.3 billion highways and tunnel project has attracted much criticism from those who say that a road-based plan is not the answer to Penang’s traffic congestion headache. This puts them at odds with the popular incumbent chief minister Lim Guan Eng, who says something must be done to ensure that another generation of Penangites do not suffer the same traffic woes as the current one.
In a nutshell, those opposing (mostly made up of NGO’s and civil groups) the project do not like it because it seems like an expensive short term solution. They have emphasised that they understand the fact that the Pakatan Rakyat state government’s options are limited because public transport comes under the purview of the Federal government – but they say that this does not justify the undertaking of the multi-billion ringgit project. Furthermore, there are environmental considerations, safety concerns and questions about the way in which this project is being conducted.
Lim Guan Eng
Lim Guan Eng however says his view is simple – something needs to be done and Penang cannot be held at ransom by the Federal government as the traffic situation worsens causing harm to both the state’s economic and social development.
On the face of it, one can sympathise with this explanation – in fact it would seem that many Penangites are also of the opinion that this daily traffic congestion cannot go on. But there are just a few things that are not quite fitting together.
First the idea that something is better than nothing. More roads, will encourage more cars and eventually the new roads will be filled up and the state will be back to square one. The bottom line here seems to be that standalone road projects are simply not good enough. Perhaps if Lim had backed this road based proposal up with a detailed and comprehensive public transport plan (that will be implemented should Pakatan Rakyat take the Federal government) then some of his critics will not be so worried.
Which brings us to the issue of timing and haste – Lim has said time and again that this was not rushed. According to him, this is a project for the future to ensure that the next generation is not a ‘traffic jam’ generation. He says that by introducing it now, it shows the state government is forward thinking in its planning and development. Furthermore says the chief minister, the state has followed the standard procedures of awarding construction projects.
While no one would argue about the importance of long term planning – this explanation falls short on several fronts. Firstly, the long-term planning could and should have begun with the feasibility studies. By signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the same week as launching a transportation master plan study – you pre-empt and possibly blur the lines of the studies. In addition, Lim’s government went one step further by awarding the tender before the master plan or the feasibility studies were completed.
It may be the way it’s always been done, but that does not make it right. If the aim was long-term planning, would it not have been better to let the master plan studies run its course, and then follow this with pre feasibility studies and environmental impact assessments at least before awarding the contract?
The master plan took slightly over two years to develop and the tender process took around a year plus to be done. The Penang government says that feasibility and environmental studies will now be conducted, and construction will begin in 2015 – which means that the studies will take around two years.
If the government had chosen to let the master plan and the feasibility studies be in place before it awarded the tender – how much further would this project be pushed?
Let us say the master plan is completed by early 2013 as scheduled and it proposes three highways and a tunnel; the government then launches feasibility and environmental studies which last into early 2015, which confirm that the project is indeed safe and viable. A tender process is launched and this takes a year plus – allowing construction to begin by mid 2016.
At most this project might have been pushed later by a year or a year and a half. With a multi billion price tag, it is a fairly reasonable delay to ensure it is done right.
The state government plans to pay for this price tag with 110 acres of reclaimed land and by giving Consortium BUCG a 30-year toll concession. Lim says that the toll is unavoidable, because the state doesn’t want to get into a court battle with the bridge operators nor the Federal government who might sue for loss of business should the tunnel be free.
While that seems like a fair rationalisation of the toll, detractors want to know why the consortium is also getting the land in addition to the toll concession. If the toll has to be implemented, is it not a sufficient enough avenue for the consortium to recoup their expenses? Could the state government be potentially overpaying for the project?
Lim had said that the state government has protected Penang’s interest by including a clause that says that no traffic guarantee will be given to the consortium, and this is good. But should the tunnel be well travelled resulting in huge toll collections for the consortium, then would not the 110 acres of prime land be a bonus?
Keeping in mind that land in Penang is a precious and shrinking resource, come the completion of this project its value might have risen substantially. The state government has to be able to give a better breakdown of the financial details of this project, including the gross development value of the land both now and in the future and the anticipated patronage of the link – to allow for an accurate financial picture to be drawn. Otherwise they can expect to be accused of overcompensating the consortium – something it often accuses its political opponents of doing.
Of course at the heart of this issue is politics, and this discussion may not even be taking place if the two parties were to work together to deal with the issue. The Federal government has to shoulder some of the blame for failing to work with the state government to deal with Penang’s transportation woes rather than using it as a carrot to entice votes and then withholding it to punish.
While this massive transportation problem may not be the decisive issue in the upcoming election, it will definitely be a central one. Potentially of course this could be exactly what Lim wants – to show the Penang people, and Malaysians in general that if they want real change and real improvements then they need to send Pakatan Rakyat all the way to Putrajaya. If not, it will be back to taking stopgap measures for the next five years.
It is a risky gamble to take, and Lim might be concerned that some of his usual backers are so firmly in the opposing corner on this issue. That being said, it is important to note that the loudest criticism is being directed at the tunnel link, and even his strongest critics admit that some new roads are necessary to disperse traffic and divert it from the city centre across the island more efficiently.
It is also clear that he believes that the people of Penang are in his corner and is confident that they will back him. Lim has cleverly acknowledged that a road-based tunnel link is not the best idea available and emphasised that the state is pursuing it because it is the only option for now.
He has also said that the state government would much prefer the idea of a rail link on the existing bridge which would connect the mainland and the island with a comprehensive public transportation system. Lim has promised that Pakatan Rakyat will do this if they capture Putrajaya.
At the end of the day after all this discussion and debate, come the 6th of May, we might see the under-seabed tunnel idea disappear from Penang transportation plans just as quickly as it appeared in the first place.
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