Mohd Osman's letter shows an ignorance that would surprise most Penangites. Maybe he should return to Penang to see for himself how the local mentality has transformed from 'development at all costs' to 'sustainable development'!

The Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) project is a good example of the former but no amount of the pro-new road 'chants' can blur the vision of residents here to the obvious degradation of the quality of life on the island!

The PORR's rationale is to reduce traffic congestion, not to build a new road for the sake of building. The argument to build the highway to ease congestion is wrong from the start as traffic volume also comes into the equation. Unfortunately, this conflicts with another nationalistic policy — to sell the national cars!

A new highway offers only brief respite before more cars come to jam it up again as proven true elsewhere in the world. Penang has a higher car ownership rate than Singapore and Hong Kong because its public transport system is almost non-existent. So can you see why Penang roads are so nightmarish!

It's wrong to say opponents to the road project are against development — we only want the right kind of development.

Penang benefits more from putting an efficient public transport system in place but there is reluctance to consider its development because of vested self-interests.

The PORR project has been privatised without open tender to a company (Peninsular Metroworks Sdn Bhd) which is controlled by the chairperson of Umno's Bukit Bendera division!

Consider the largesse handed out to the crony company in exchange for building the 17km double carriageway highway with eight interchanges costing RM1.02 billion. The company will get:

  • 30 acres of prime state land (to help the company generate income to build the road so that it need not start with much capital or experience!)

  • reclaim 500 acres of sea front off Gurney Drive (where land prices runs from RM150 per sq ft, potentially giving the company a RM3 billion income!)

  • not to mention the right to collect toll at four points for 30 years and there is no guarantee that the RM1 toll will not hike!

    • It doesn't take much intelligence to deduce that the resources poured into the road building company could have been better used to create a good public transport system for Penang and rid the traffic congestion scourge once and for all from the island!

    This alternative course of action would spare Penang from the destruction of property (some with irreplaceable vintage value), the aesthetics and environment, places of worship and at least 50 graves, as well as more air and noise pollution.

    Considering the high cost of building the PORR one would wonder if this is a road building project or simply a land-grab-and-toll-collection exercise!

    For all these reasons Penangites are right to reject PORR!