GEORGE TOWN: Penang Gerakan has slammed Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for attacking the state Barisan Nasional manifesto, which was unveiled yesterday, in particular the pledge to solve traffic congestion issues.
State Gerakan vice-chairman Oh Tong Keong said BN's plan to skip the light rail transit (LRT) project, by scrapping the Permatang Damar Laut reclamation project, was to achieve a win-win situation for all parties, especially Penangites.
He said a traffic dispersal plan and building interchanges at traffic-congested locations in various parts of the state was a far better alternative to the DAP-led Penang government's ambitious project – Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).
Oh stressed that there was no dire need to reclaim land to destroy the environment and the livelihood of the fishermen in order to implement the LRT and monorail system under the PTMP.
"We did reclaim land and build the Jelutong Expressway, but at the same time, we also build close to 5,000 low-cost and low-medium cost homes. This is what I said with win-win situation.
"With the reclamation, who is going to benefit from it? Expensive luxury homes are coming there and even the LRT will take many years to implement, so who benefits from all this?
"They (the state government) are so naive, he (Lim) is naive. They just do not see the bigger picture. We have many plans with a specific timeline for a better Penang, unlike them," he told the NSTP when contacted.
Yesterday, state BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow said that BN would cancel major projects in the state once the coalition wins back Penang from the opposition in the 14th General Election (GE14).
In its state manifesto, Teng also pledged to stop the Persiaran Gurney land reclamation works and also call off the controversial undersea tunnel project.
Responding to the manifesto, Lim cried foul at BN's idea of scrapping the Permatang Damar Laut reclamation project, which will be used to fund the PTMP.
He said that the state government was sincere in tackling the traffic congestion in the state by introducing the LRT in the PTMP, which will benefit the people both on the mainland and island.
"When we want to build our own LRT, they want to scrap the (reclamation) project and sabotage it. They had promised three times and yet nothing has been done so far.
"They do not have a public transport project, this is so irresponsible, wanting us to be lost in the middle of (traffic) congestion," he told a press conference in Komtar earlier today.