Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has challenged the federal government to approve its application for a third bridge to Penang island, following debate over its plans to build a tunnel to the mainland.

“A formal letter will be sent to (Works Minister) Fadillah Yusof next week to seek federal government approval for the third bridge, from Gurney Drive on the island to Bagan Ajam on the mainland, so that the state government can consider building a toll-free bridge.

“There is no reason for the federal government not to give approval for the third bridge when there is no cost to the federal government, as it will be fully financed by the state government.

“Further, this will give the opportunity for BN to laugh at the expense of Pakatan for making empty promises no different from BN,” said Lim in a statement today.

He repeated Putrajaya’s lack of cooperation was the reason for opting to build a tunnel across the strait to ease traffic jams on the island.

Lim said the federal government had not only failed its “triple promises” to build the LRT on Penang island, but had not helped the state government build its own.

He claimed the federal government had “refused to even reply to numerous letters [by] the state government to permit the state government to build the LRT on our own, at our own expense if the federal government refuses to do so”.

"When there was no reply from the Federal government, the state government had no choice but to appoint a project delivery partner (PDP) for the RM27 billion public transport master plan (PTMP) by open tender.

"The PDP is the facilitator not only to make the PTMP project technically and financially viable, but also to secure regulatory approvals for public transport licensing and detailed impact environment assessment(DEIA) studies," he explained.

Lim said the "painful experience" showed it would be difficult to secure a response from Putrajaya to build a third bridge.

He also blamed the previous BN state government for surrendering the rights to the federal government to build any bridges linking the island to the mainland.

This, he said, was the reason his administration was "compelled to choose the more expensive tunnel link" that did not require federal approval.

Fadillah can help make toll free

Lim said Fadillah can help the state to save the additional costs required for the tunnel if he approves the bridge.

"Such cost savings may allow the state government to waive the need to charge tolls for using the third bridge," he added.

"The Penang state government has never imposed any toll charges on roads and bridges built, but had proposed a toll (for the proposed tunnel) so as not to directly sabotage the business models for the other two existing bridges."