The 300-strong crowd that turned up for a public consultation with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng last night expressed overwhelming support for the RM6 billion integrated road system proposal in Penang.

Out of 16 people who spoke, six expressed explicit support for the project, which includes an undersea tunnel linking the island with the mainland, while three rejected it and seven others neither supported nor opposed but asked questions on the matter.

mca party election nomination day 131008 05 lee hack teik So supportive was the Mandarin-speaking crowd that they gave those who opposed or questioned the issue a hard time at the two-hour event held at the Penang Chinese Town Hall on Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling.

During question time, MCA religious affairs bureau chief Lee Hack Teik ( right ), who queried Lim on the logic of giving away 110 acres of prime land in Tanjung Tokong to the company in exchange for the road project, was loudly booed.

“The Consumers Association of Penang also said that having more roads will not ease congestion but bring in more cars,” he said, to loud jeers.

Lee and state BN Youth information chief H’ng Khoon Leng left the venue early. Another local MCA leader, David Yim, also suffered a similar fate.

Even state executive councillor for local government and traffic management Chow Kon Yeow, when responding, took a dig at Lee, who maintained his cool and kept a smiling face throughout the ordeal.

“The Hack Teik that I knew before was a vocal person but tonight he seems to be only quoting other people. Only in a country like Malaysia would anyone accuse these companies of being a RM2 concern,” Chow said.

Distributer of flyers asked to leave

Even before the event started at 8pm, a man distributing anti-road project flyers questioning the alleged RM2 special purpose vehicle , Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd, which won the tender to develop the project, was asked to leave the hall.

phee boon poh He was first confronted by the state voluntary security unit (PPS), followed by state exco Phee Boon Poh ( left ) who asked, “What do you want to do now?”

A slight commotion broke out and H’ng, who was in the audience, shouted, “PPS! Do not bully the people.”

The man - Simon Wong - then left the hall with about five of his friends, telling reporters when met outside that Phee had “acted like a gangster”.

“He could have told me politely to leave. When I distributed the flyers outside, a member of the PPS just kicked them aside,” said Wong, who is a businessman.

“The CM is lying in saying that the company’s paid up capital is RM4.5 billion, when it is only RM2,” added Wong, who claimed he is not associated with any political party.

The consultation begun with Penang Municipal Council building director Yew Tung Siang, accompanied by his colleague, traffic expert A Rajenderan, briefing the audience on the road project .

The project covers a 6.5km undersea tunnel from Gurney Drive to Bagam Ajam in Butterowrth, 4.2km Pesiaran Gurney-Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway bypass, a 4.6km Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway-Bandar Baru Air Itam bypass, and a four-lane 12km road linking Tanjung Bungah with Teluk Bahang.

NONE Also present with Lim and Chow were state exco member Lim Hock Seng, and the consortium’s partners - Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG) Malaysia assistant general manager Qiao Bao Quan, and China Railway Construction Corporation (Malaysia) (CRCC) general manager Zhu Feng Yuan and the company’s business development head Yee Chin Fatt.

BUCG and CRCC showed the audience a short video presentation about their companies.

Spurring mainland economic growth

During the question-and-answer session, many shared their experiences of being stuck in daily traffic congestion, especially around the Air Itam area, expressing support for the project to be carried out soon.

One said the project will spur economic activities in the mainland and was beneficial to Seberang Perai Utara as the two other links - Penang Bridge I and II were good for Seberang Perai Tengah and Selatan.

lim guan eng He was refuted by another participant who asked, “If there are concerns about development on the mainland, they why not move the state administrative centre to the mainland?”

To this, Lim ( left ) replied, “We are not like the former BN government, we will not use the rakyat’s money to build another Putrajaya (the country’s administrative capital).”

A participant proposed that communities get together to set up a community bus system since the federal government did not support the state’s plan of providing free bus services even when it offered to pay RM10 million annually.

Some concerns were raised over the professionalism of the Department of Environment - a federal agency - since it had also approved the controversial Lynas plant in Gebeng, Pahang.

The project. slated for completion in 2025, is fiercely opposed by NGOs, especially the Penang Forum and Consumers Association of Penang , but a member of the crowd last night said, “Don’t use the environment as an excuse to oppose development”.

Lim got a loud round of applause when he defended the project, saying it was for the benefit of “our future generation”.

As there were some concerns expressed on the toll charges, Lim said toll collection would not be extended beyond the 30-year tenure, adding that the project was still subject to a proper environmental impact assessment study.