8-hour Penang Bridge closure causes chaos

2009/11/23

By Phuah Ken Lin and Looi Sue-Chern

GEORGE TOWN: Thousands of motorists were stranded in various parts of the state yesterday by an eight-hour closure of the Penang Bridge for a marathon. Traffic was at a standstill near the two ferry terminals at Pengkalan Raja Tun Uda on the island and Pengkalan Sultan Abdul Halim on the mainland as motorists tried to use the ferries.

The situation was chaotic at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal, where the nearby Jalan Bagan Luar-Jalan Chain Ferry junction was choked with vehicles, as motorists waited several hours to enter the flyover leading to the ferry terminal.

According to traffic policemen there, the situation had been that way since the bridge was closed to traffic from 2am.

Many factory workers on their Sunday shift, like Suppa Verasingam, 32, who works at the Prai Industrial Zone, were late for work.

Suppa, who was at the Raja Tun Uda ferry terminal, said Penang Port Sdn Bhd could have eased the congestion had it deployed all its eight ferries, instead of six.

The chaotic situation at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal. The nearby Jalan Bagan Luar-Jalan Chain Ferry junction was choked with vehicles as motorists waited several hours to enter the flyover leading to the ferry terminal.

Another factory worker, Mohamad Azizi Halim, 30, said the state government should consider relocating the event next year as the bridge closure caused inconvenience to the public.



Meanwhile, the route leading to the bridge was almost deserted, with motorists being redirected by police to the Prai Industrial Zone.

Several motorists, including visitors from other states, were seen waiting by the roadside of Jalan Perusahaan in the industrial zone for the bridge to reopen. Among them were four wedding entourages heading for the island.

A member of one of the entourages from Kepala Batas said they preferred to wait for the bridge to reopen as they knew the jam at the ferry terminal was very bad.

"Holding such an event is fine as long as the parties involved take care in informing everyone, including people outside of the state," he said, referring to the marathon.

Estate owner Lim Choo Yam, 61, was waiting anxiously to get his Indonesian maid to the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas in time to check in for her noon flight to Medan. The bridge was reopened at 10am and traffic returned to normal after that.

A spokesman for budget airline Firefly said 20 of its passengers bound for Medan and Kuala Lumpur from Penang missed their flights.