PIL highway ‘incompatible’ with application for Penang Hill Unesco biosphere listing
The RM9bn six-lane highway which will tunnel through 10km of the hills of Penang are “clearly incompatible” with plans to get Unesco to list the hill as a protected biosphere, a former senior Unesco advisor has said.
Thousands of tons of explosives to blast tunnels through Penang Hill
The six-lane highway will now go below the funicular railway (instead of over it), increasing the total length of all the tunnel stretches from over 7km to over 10km along the 19.5km route. (Did someone just realise how ludicrous it would look for the highway to fly over the hill railway?)
Women protest against mega highway over Sungai Ara Linear Park
Here it comes. A groundswell of protest is building up against the extravagant plan for an RM8bn 19.5km six-lane highway, which will mar the beauty and tranquility of the Sungai Ara Linear Park and the Penang Youth Park and affect hundreds of homes and businesses on the island.
Before the bitter PIL, there was PORR: What they said in 2002
Before the current plan for an extravagant RM8bn 19.5km six-lane Pan Island Link (PIL) highway, there was the RM1.0bn 17km four-lane Penang Outer Ring Road project, which was eventually scrapped following an outcry from the then opposition party in Penang, the DAP.
12 eateries in Penang shut down – so much for xenophobia
Many Malaysians have this perception that eating places staffed by foreign workers are less hygienic.
International banker slams method used to implement transport masterplan
An overseas-bases international banker working with a prominent global financial institution has criticised the Request for Proposals procurement method used to select a project delivery partner to implement the Halcrow masterplan.
Alert: They are trying to push through that RM8bn six-lane highway
Calling all Penangites: While the rest of the world is turning to more sustainable forms of urban mobility especially in view of climate change, here we are in Penang going backwards.
A birthday celebration with a twist in the new Malaysia
Cute video above. I don’t think such a warm clip would have been possible – it wouldn’t have been so relaxed and natural – in the old Malaysia. But you can see what we have missed all these years just by watching the above clip.
Penang transport masterplan: Need for a relook
Our guest writer today is former Penang Island City Councillor Lim Mah Hui, who will be writing a six-part series about the Penang transport masterplan. This is the first instalment.
Penang youth launch campaign for better public transport
So this was where I was. While much of George Town was in the midst of world heritage celebrations, I decided to check out a group of youth at Speakers’ Square who decided to mark the day by launching a campaign for a better masterplan for public transport in Penang.
Jamal lands up in jail
Hopefully others will think twice about playing up and manipulating issues of race and religion in the new Malaysia.
RM2bn private hospital expansion project alarms nearby residents
A RM2bn private medical tourism project on a 6.4-acre site near Island Hospital in Penang has alarmed nearby residents who worry about congestion in their quiet neighbourhood.
Countering the spin over exorbitant RM46bn SRS transport shopping spree
Roger Teoh, a PhD postgraduate student at the Centre for Transport Studies, Imperial College London, has written an excellent critique of SRS Consortium’s mega project.
Call for halt to logging in Ulu Muda permanent forest reserves in Kedah
Penang Forum has just released this media statement on the need to protect the Ulu Muda water catchment area:
Penang Forum supports the call of Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (Sunday Star, Nation page 8, 24 June 2018) for a halt to logging activities in the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve area, which is a crucial water catchment for the Muda, Pedu and Ahning dams that supply water to Kedah, Penang and Perlis.
CV Prabhakaran: Towering Reformasi lawyer who defended the underdog
Dato’ CV Prabhakharan, the former chairman of the Penang Bar Committee (1996-1999) passed away on 15 June 2018. He was 81. Anil Netto writes this tribute.
Penang Forum meets Council of Eminent Persons, urges review of RM46bn mega transport project
A delegation of Penang Forum representatives today met the Council of Eminent Person and called for a review of SRS Consortium’s exorbitant RM46bn transport infrastructure shopping list.
The pink diamond: When truth is stranger than fiction
How did the woman get away with the pink diamond with bumbling law enforcement officers hot on the trail? Check out this scene from The Pink Panther (above).
Chop! Chop! Chop! – 16 trees gone along Jalan Sungai Dua
Another 10 trees along Jalan Sungai Dua near USM have been chopped after the Raya break – on top of the half a dozen chopped just before the holidays.
Video: Waves breach sea wall, overflowing into grounds of Penang hotel
A video has surfaced showing waves crashing over a sea wall and flooding the grounds of a hotel in Penang. It is unclear if it is a new incident or an earlier incident.