GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government is optimistic that the proposed cross channel light rail transit (LRT) link, connecting Penang island and Butterworth, will be a reality under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's watch.
State Infrastructure Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the state's confidence stemmed from the fact that Anwar himself had come to Penang back in May to announce that the federal government would fund the much-awaited project.
He said this was followed by a working visit by Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook."Then, there are the series of discussions between the Penang government and MRT Corp.
The state government is very much involved in the LRT project discussions.
"With all these active discussions taking place, we are 100 per cent confident that the project will kick off as planned in due time," he said in response to a supplementary question by Gooi Hsiao-Leung (PKR - Bukit Tengah).
Gooi had asked the state government for certainty that the LRT project would kick off after it was put on hold before this.
Elaborating further, Zairil said in the past few years, the state government had conducted various studies about the LRT project, in terms of technical, feasibility, alignment and such.
"We have handed over all these studies to them.
"We hope the project will begin in the near future," he added.During a visit to the state in May, Anwar had said that the federal government had agreed to provide additional funds to the Penang government to expedite the development of the LRT project in the state.
He had acknowledged that traffic congestion had been a longstanding issue in Penang and that the state was in need of a LRT system as a solution.
Anwar had said that he would hold a discussion with the Penang government soon to find a solution and decide how to fund the project.
Following that, the LRT alignment will now be from Bayan Lepas to Komtar to Tanjung Bungah, Air Itam to Butterworth to Kepala Batas and to Simpang Ampat.
Meanwhile, Zairil said the implementation of the LRT project was awaiting a decision by the Transport Ministry to finalise several details.
As such, he said, details of the cost and implementation method as well as the start date of the project depended on the decision of the said ministry.
"A holistic transport system is capable of generating economic growth and improving the standard of living of the people of Penang.
"Accordingly, the state government remains committed to empowering public transport through the implementation of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).
Thus, the announcement of allocations for the implementation of the LRT project by the federal government amounting to RM10 billion is the first step towards improving the quality of life of the people of Penang in terms of public transport coverage, services and connections between neighborhoods and becoming a catalyst the state's economy," he added.
Meanwhile, to another question by Lee Boon Heng (PKR - Kebun Bunga) on the status of SRS Consortium in the LRT project, Zairil said based on the initial agreement between the state government and SRS Consortium, the company played the role as the project delivery partner (PDP) then.
"At that time, the LRT project was under the state government. Now that the federal government has taken over the project, it will have to decide the future direction of the SRS Consortium.
"I am sure the efforts taken by the SRS Consortium will be taken into consideration.
"The federal government has several options. It can continue to proceed with the PDP model so the company has a role to play. Otherwise, the federal government can pay the company for the work done so far," he said, adding that there were several options to consider.