PORR: Will Penangites have to pay toll for 30 years, asks DAP
DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang has called on the Penang state government to publicise the Halcrow Urban Transport Report to clarify whether Penangites will be paying toll charges for the controversial outer ring road project for the next 30 years.
Lim said the people cannot accept without question the claim that the state government had successfully reduced the proposed toll rate of RM1.70 to RM1 for each of the four stations by sacrificing 31 hectares of prime state land and the 500 acres of reclaimed land off Gurney Drive.
"Why can't Penang Outer Ring Road project be toll-free like the Jelutong Expressway whose concessionaire was given the right to reclaim 132 hectares of land for property development, but was not allowed to impose toll or given any prime state land?" he queried.
The RM1.02 billion 17km PORR project initiated by the federal government is expected to affect more than 176 structures, including private homes, religious and burial grounds.
The project has come under fire for its ambiguity in several issues such as compensation rates for the properties of those affected, toll rates and viability of the highway to solve Penang's long standing traffic woes.
The Halcrow Penang Urban Transport Study commissioned by the Penang state government in 1997 is a comprehensive review of transportation policy in the state and raises questions about PORR's transparency, viability and compatibility with sustainable transport.
According to the report, the PORR would ease traffic flow and save travel time significantly. But after eight years, traffic volume would increase so fast that it would overwhelm the capacities of existing roads resulting in reduced vehicle speed and longer travel time.
Penangites have been told that the state government had taken measures to keep the PORR toll low and reasonable, reducing the originally proposed toll by 41 percent from RM1.70 per toll station to RM1 by sacrificing 31ha of prime state land worth RM200 million and 500 acres of reclaimed land worth RM3 billion on the sea front off Gurney Drive to the project concessionaire, Peninsular Metroworks Sdn Bhd.
Back to square one
Lim said the nightmare of the Penang traffic congestion is likely to be back to square one, not in eight years but probably less than five years, after the completion of PORR.
The Halcrow Report, he said, was based on the assumption that PORR would be ready by 2002 and that the third link would have connected George Town and Butterworth with the Northern International Airport on two reclaimed Kedah islands up and operating.
"What Penang needs is an efficient public transport system based on sustainable transport policy, as PORR is not a medium-term let alone long-term solution to the traffic congestion nightmare on the island," he said.
"For medium and long-term improvements, the Halcrow report recognised that a sensible option in promoting continued and sustained growth for Penang would be for the car adapting to the city as in the case of Singapore, rather than the city adapting to the car in the case of Bangkok," he added.
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