Big-Bang Approach for Penang Transport
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CASH AID FOR SRS Consortium FIRE, STORM 受委槟交通大蓝图计划执行伙伴 VICTIMS pg pg 6 1 FREE buletin Competency Accountability Transparency http:www.facebook.com/buletinmutiara August 16 - 31, 2015 http:www.facebook.com/cmlimguaneng In other words, the Big-bang approach for PDP fully bears the risk of expenses and cost incurred. Penang transport - LIM Story by Chan Lilian implementation of the TMP, based on their Pix by Shum Jian-Wei extensive expertise in mass rail transit and related public transport infrastructure, as BIG-BANG approach is how Chief Minis- well as large-scale township development. ter Lim Guan Eng described the Penang SRS Consortium comprises well-known Transport Masterplan. names in the engineering and construction On Aug 14, the state government an- and property development industry, namely nounced the appointment of SRS Consor- publicly-listed Gamuda Berhad (60%), and tium as the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) Penang-based Loh Phoy Yen Holdings Sdn for the RM27 billion Transport Master Plan Bhd (20%) and Ideal Property Development (TMP) to mitigate traffic congestion by 2030 Sdn Bhd (20%). and ensure Penang’s prosperity beyond “Following the announcement, the PDP 2050. will be working closely with the state gov- “The Penang state government has given ernment in the next six months to ascertain full attention to this matter after the LRT the detailed execution of the plan, engineer- project promised by the federal government ing design, gather public feedback, and most was not fulfilled. Instead of complaining, we crucially obtain all state and federal approv- have to find our own resources to get the als for each TMP component,” Chow added. Penang Transport Masterplan moving. The appointed PDP will be tasked with “The committee which evaluated the executing the TMP with no cost-overruns tender was headed by State Secretary Datuk and delays resulting from the non-perfor- Seri Farizan Darus with the Penang Legal mance of contractors. At the same time, the Adviser on board as well. PDP will employ strict safety and environ- The whole process was carried out in ment protection standards and measures to Lim (right) handing over the letter of offer to SRS Consortium chief executive accordance with government procedure,” minimise the environmental and social officer Datuk Lim Yun Ling while Chow (left) witnesses the momentous step Lim said. impact. towards solving Penang’s traffic congestion. Exco member for Local Government, “The state government emphasises that Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation all costs and expenses incurred will be and invite tender submissions from inter- The state government is confident that Chow Kon Yeow told members of the press fully borne by the PDP in the event that no ested parties. Penang’s economic prosperity will be that the whole process has taken almost a approvals for each TMP component is ob- The state expects the first TMP project brought beyond 2050 if this final obstacle year. tained from the federal government. In to be rolled out by 2017. is removed. “Forty-eight companies bought the tender other words, the PDP fully bears the risk of The TMP is an ambitious “big-bang” The next challenge will be constructing documents and six companies made their expenses and cost incurred which will only approach towards facing the biggest chal- a financial architecture based on a land swap bids. be met from the project proceeding, when lenge of both traffic congestion and public to finance the cost of at least RM27 billion “Today, the letter of offer is accepted by federal government approval is obtained,” transport by adopting the approach of “mov- to fund the TMP. the company.,” Chow said. Lim added. ing people, not vehicles”. This important issue will only be ad- After a comprehensive study of all the With all approvals and planning for the It combines air, water, rail and road dressed when all licensing approvals have proposals received, the exco on Aug 12 ap- various TMP Work Packages in place, the to provide solutions to mitigate traffic been secured from the federal government pointed SRS Consortium as the PDP for the PDP will proceed to call for open tenders congestion. by the PDP. 2 Aug 16 - 31, 2015 1MDB puts paid RED-Y Zumba paints to Penang’s hopes the town red CHIEF Minister Lim Guan Eng failed economic policies and re- expressed his concerns and disap- fusal to account or admit that the pointment in a press statement RM42 billion 1MDB *1Malaysia released on Aug 11. Development Berhad) financial “Penang’s hopes of achieving scandal and the RM2.6 billion high-income status of RM40,841 donation deposited into the Prime or US$12,467 GDP per capita by Minister’s personal account, has 2015 was crushed by the 20% caused a complete and compre- drop in the ringgit’s to US Dollars hensive loss of confidence from RM3.27 to RM 3.95. amongst foreign investors and the “Instead of RM40,841 as the local business community.” benchmark to achieve high-in- Lim puts the blame on 1MDB come status, the 20% drop in the and he explained why. ringgit means that the benchmark “For Penang, instead of achiev- has been increased to RM49,245,” ing high-income status, we may Lim said in the statement. have to wait another five years to It is to be noted that the ringgit do so and perhaps another 10 Rashid sportingly taking part in the zumba at Occupy Beach Street. continued to drop after the said years to achieve the Vision 2020 statement. target of US$15,000 GDP per ZUMBA events in Penang have at- awareness to be active and healthy. “Unfortunately the present capita. All this because of tracted thousands and the most beau- When Penangites get into such ac- precipitous drop in the ringgit 1MDB,” he said. tiful thing is the crowd truly reflects tivities, we can avoid all kinds of means that our wealth has dimin- He also threw a challenge to the diversity of Penangites with all diseases like diabetes, hypertension ished by at least 20%. Penang Barisan Nasional by suggesting a races, ages, shapes (and sizes!) com- and heart diseases. We want Penan- will be missing out on being a fresh general election. ing together to move to the music. gites to be healthy so that they move high-income economy,” he add- “If the Prime Minister still The latest event organised by the our state forward to be an interna- ed. thinks that 1MDB is worth it and office of Deputy Chief Minister I tional city!” Rashid said in his speech “This 20% drop in value of the that it is not wrong for RM2.6 Datuk Mohd. Rashid Hasnon managed before the launch of the Get Red-y ringgit in less than a year shows billion donation into his personal to gather nearly 1,000 zumba lovers Zumba at Occupy Beach Street on the need for our national leaders account to help BN win the 2013 dressed in red. Aug 2. to stop being in denial syndrome general election, then he should “In line with Penang’s vision to Hundreds of goodie bags were by ignoring the failure of the go back to the voters and let them encourage a healthy lifestyle, this given away to the participants after economic management, their decide.” ‘Get Red-y For Zumba’ is to create the 90-minutes zumba event. Making friends through cycling FRIENDSHIP Thru Cycling was the theme for the “7th Campaign For A Lane” round-island bicycle ride which took place on Aug 9. The campaign is to create awareness on the need for dedicated lanes for cyclists. Chief Minsiter Lim Guan Eng flagged off the 4,500 cyclist from the Esplanade at 7am. “Friendship Thru Cycling hopes that all par- ticipants will demonstrate their utmost courtesy to fellow cyclists and motorists alike,” chairman of G Club Penang Cyclists, Datuk Dr. Lim Seh Guan, said. ”CFAL began in 2009 with 700 participants and the numbers have grown each year. The G Club also initiated the Bike on Fridays (BOFs) campaign to promote cycling to Penangites. Since its incep- tion, a group of cyclists have made over 20 BOFs rides and we hope more cyclists will join,” Dr Lim added. The route for the island trip is 82 KM and some cyclists took two hours to complete while others finished in five hours. Participating in the ride was Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mohd. Rashid Hasnon, who cycled part of the journey. One more bicycle on the road means one less car to add to the congestion. Aug 16 - 31, 2015 3 Suit settled after verbal apology DATUK Shaik Hussein Mydin, the Umno Bagan division chairman, had verbally apolo- gised twice to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in the presence of the Penang High Court Judge in the judge’s chambers. Lim’s legal officer, Raja Syarafina Raja Shuib, con- firmed via a recent press state- ment that Judicial Commis- sioner Datuk Nordin Hassan had even asked Lim whether he was satisfied with Shaik Hussein’s verbal apology, to which Lim replied in the af- firmative. Lim had on Aug 19 with- drawn his defamation suit against Shaik Hussein in re- spect of several defamatory statements made by the Umno leader on Oct 5, 2012, where Shaik Hussein alleged Lim had been corrupt by taking bribes. Lim had then sued Shaik Hussein to clear his name, pro- tect his reputation and integrity Shaik Hussein shaking hands with Lim (left) outside the court Copy of the letter from Shaik Hussein’s lawyer to Lim. as well as proving that as the after tendering his verbal apology.