Penang govt hopes new federal govt can facilitate implementation of critical infrastructure projects
24 Nov 2022 06:39pm
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow - Bernama Photo
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Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state government would work on the implementation of other components under the Penang Transport Master Plan that were very much needed at this time, namely the light rail transit (LRT) project for the George Town-Butterworth line to reduce the congestion on the Penang Bridge, apart from the Bayan Lepas LRT project.
"Projects under the Penang Transport Master Plan are able to solve this problem, especially by providing an efficient public transport system, thus reducing the dependence of the people of this state on private vehicles.
"The development of integrated public transport networks and highways is essential to increase accessibility and reduce traffic congestion in Penang," he said during the winding up session of the 2023 Supply Bill and Development Expenditure Estimates in the Penang state assembly sitting here today.
Chow said in order to realise the goals of the Bayan Lepas LRT and Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) project, the state government had so far submitted three funding allocation requests to the Federal Government through the 12th Malaysia Plan.
Therefore, he said the State Government would follow up with the new Federal Government on these critical infrastructure projects.
"The State Government believes that highways still need to be built even though there are plans to implement the LRT project, because the transition from private vehicles to public transport alone is not capable of solving the problem of traffic congestion in Penang. In fact, the change cannot be expected within a short period of time.
"Therefore, the implementation of the Pan Island Link 1 Highway project is necessary to divert and reduce traffic congestion, especially on the Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Highway and Jalan Masjid Negeri," he said. - BERNAMA
