LETTERS: It was reported that the Melaka government was mulling a tunnel between Melaka and Dumai in Indonesia across the Straits of Malacca.
The Melaka chief minister said this at a press conference after the launch of Melaka Week at Expo 2020 Dubai in the Malaysia Pavilion on Monday.
Plans for a cross-boundary link had been mooted at least on three previous occasions, including a proposed bridge that was abandoned as it raised too many issues.
Connecting Malaysia to Indonesia will stimulate new economic opportunities by way of tourism and trade.
The Asian financial crisis in 1997 torpedoed plans for such a connection.
For starters, the cost would be overly prohibitive — RM15 to RM20 billion may be a modest estimate but we can ill-afford given the need for the economy to recover from the pandemic.
Malaysia is already confronted with a government debt approaching 55 per cent of gross domestic product.
This high cost will be passed on as toll to motorists, who may shy away from it. The high cost will result in debt liabilities for both countries.
Another plan was to connect Kukup, a Malaysian fishing town 69km from Johor Baru to Pulau Karimun in the Sumatran province of Riau.
Construction on the seabed could impact fishing and affect the livelihood of fishermen.
Economic growth between the two countries may not flourish as expected since the roads in Sumatra are not sufficiently upgraded to facilitate growth.
Pulau Karimun is far away from other main Indonesian cities like Jakarta, Semarang, Medan and Palembang, and Karimun suffers from lack of infrastructure as well.
Malaysia and Indonesia would be saddled with the herculean task of providing adequate security across the tunnel.
The tunnels could lead to an influx of foreign labourers who are willing to work for low pay, leading to local workers being sidelined.
Another hazard would be that the Kukup-Riau link would be abused by asylum seekers or illegal immigrants, jeopardising the national integrity of both nations.
Flying would be better, safer and faster way to travel, especially with the many budget airlines available.
Visitors to Malaysia would have to drive all the way to Sumatra to catch a ferry to Pulau Karimun and subsequently use the tunnel to get to Malaysia.
For Malaysians, it would be less expensive, safer and less time consuming to reach Jakarta by air.
We hope that the Melaka government will not go ahead with this mammoth project as it might end up as a white elephant given that the cons outweigh the pros.
DR A. SOORIAN
Seremban, Negri Sembilan
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times