![Free Malaysia Today](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.freemalaysiatoday.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F08%2Frosli-khan-column-300x400-210819-NEW.jpg&w=640&q=75)
It has been more than eight years since a proposed Light Rail Transit project for Penang was first mooted. Even now, politicians in the Penang state assembly are still talking about it.
This 19km LRT line, from Komtar to Bayan Lepas, is estimated to cost RM8.5 billion and with 30 stations to serve, many readers would imagine that traffic congestion in Penang would become a thing of the past.
Not so fast though, as the state government had a lot of other fancy ideas behind this transport master plan. After waiting for eight solid years, it now appears that the Penang LRT will not be built any time soon.
Based on a similar construction experience and timeline for the LRT3 in the Klang Valley, the Penang LRT will not exist for another three to four years.
Politicians cannot plan
In the first place, it was a bad idea to give the planning functions to politicians, whether at state or federal level. They are neither professional enough to undertake the tasks nor have the urgency to deliver.
Politicians have the tendency to mix or muddle things up by looking at issues heavily from a political perspective rather than on a needs basis.
On certain needs, such as the public transport requirements for Penang, they should stay out of the planning process and let the professionals handle the job. Polilticians are far from being experts for such an important undertaking.
Their roles should be limited to allocating and approving the state funds or budget for the project to be implemented. Even the task of sourcing the funding should be done by experts.
In the Penang LRT case, state level politicians decided to interfere and proposed a long winding route to the source of funds by combining it with the three islands reclamation project.
They have this weird idea about how land reclamation should be done. The three islands, referred to as the Penang South Reclamation project (PSR), were to be sold to the highest bidder to fund road and public transport projects, such as the LRT.
It could not be more complex, is rather unsound and a delayed method of funding for a public transport facility. No wonder eight years have gone by without a single grain of sand being moved to start the project.
The Penang state government has not only failed miserably to deliver the project, but they have also made themselves unpopular, in the eyes of the Malaysian public.
Indirectly, they imposed tremendous political pressure upon themselves by failing to live up to the people’s expectations.
In the eyes of the voters and transport users in Penang, eight years is a long time to wait. The failure to deliver a very basic need using a straightforward project implementation approach, translates into a competency issue and a disorder in governance.
New government?
Such failures have wider implications in terms of their ability and capability to govern such a small state like Penang.
Some voters may attribute their failure, stemming from their inability to manage the country at the federal level, when they were part of the Pakatan Harapan government for 22 months.
Somehow, they still failed to get the project off the ground despite being part of the central government.
Perhaps, the project was caught up in a complicated web of public-private ownership, land reclamation, road construction, undersea tunnel and land swap issues that were too complex for the LRT to untangle itself from.
The rakyat will continue to suffer through massive congestion, delays and loss of valuable working time, every day for many more years to come.
Unless an LRT appears overnight, which is very unlikely.
In that case, many readers will wonder if we’ll see a new Penang state government after the next general election.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram