PICC Councilors at loggerheads over differing vision for public transport

GEORGE TOWN: Tensions ran high at the Penang Island City Council as Councilors verbally sparred over differing public transport visions for the island during the close of the Council meeting today.

Councilor Lim Mah Hui urged the state government to establish public transport systems like trams and bus rapid transit (BRT) which do not threaten the heritage status of George Town.

He cited the example of Istanbul, Turkey, where the government there opted for trams and BRTs to ensure their status was not lost.

Lim also urged the state not to sign or commit itself to any agreement with SRS Consortium, the project delivery partner (PDP) for the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), before a Unesco assessment mission was completed.

He defended NGO umbrella body Penang Forum which requested Unesco to conduct a heritage assessment for George Town following the discovery of colonial artifacts at Sia Boey which is also the proposed site for a transport hub.

"Common sense tells us that it is projects and actions that threaten the universal outstanding value (OUV) of George Town (and) not a simple request letter from Penang Forum," he said.

Councilor Chris Lee in his speech noted Melbourne, Australia, a city with a large tram system, had a high tram collision rate.

He said there were 36 collisions with person incidents recorded in 2015 and 856 collisions with road vehicle incidents recorded in the same year.

Lee said this showed the risk of collision could not be entirely avoided with a tram system operating with other road vehicles but an elevated system, like a Light Rail Transit (LRT), eliminated collision risks.

"If trams are built and a bad accident happens, will Penang Forum wash their hands off the incident and pass on the responsibility to the state again?," he asked.

Lee also criticised the Better, Cheaper, Faster (BCF) transport plan proposed by Penang Forum as an alternative to the PTMP.

He said they have failed to explain how the state can implement the BCF plan and challenge the Forum to come up with their own money to hire consultants to create a viable PTMP alternative.

"The aim of the state is to ensure Penang residents can make a living here. Has Penang Forum thought of how the BCF can achieve this or will it again be said that this is the responsibility of the state government?," he questioned.