Initial news reports for the Penang Hill Railway ‘upgrade’ had mentioned an allocation of RM40m. But later news reports put the cost at RM63m and finally RM73m.
How many billions would it take to wipe out Sarawak poverty?
Some of us might think that it could take several billion ringgit to wipe out poverty in Sarawak. Not really.
Flaws in ‘upgraded’ Penang Hill Railway
I ran into a visitor who had taken a ride on the ‘upgraded’ Penang Hill railway and he made the following observations:
Judge dismisses Eskay’s RM20m ‘commission’ claim
The Malaysian government would do well to heed Justice V T Singham’s views in his dismissal of the lawsuit brought by Eskay (of ‘Datuk T’ fame) claiming RM20m in commission from the developer of the ‘crooked bridge’ project.
Singapore general election: Democracy rising
It’s just two more days to polling day in Singapore – and the democratic awakening sweeping across the world has not left the island republic untouched.
“Singapore is a country – not a company,” says private teacher Michelle Lee, speaking at an opposition SDP rally
TBRA fails in legal challenge
The Tanjung Bunga Residents Association has been thwarted in its legal challenge against the state government’s gazetting of Tanjung Bunga as a primary corridor for development instead of a secondary corridor.
‘Upgraded’ Penang Hill railway shut for repairs
What, already? I think there’s a story in here somewhere.
The Penang Hill Corporation has issued a statement. Notice these lines in particular, which suggest that all is not well:
Repair work is further hampered by lack of spare parts from the train supplier. The full inventory of spares especially power pick-ups, has still not been given. The situation is further aggravated by the lack of information in dealing with the supplier. Documents and contracts on the upgrading works of the new train and rail are still not in the Corporation’s possession despite repeated requests and reminders. If the power pick-ups and spare parts were available, the Penang Hill Corporation would have been able to repair the train much quicker.
Penang Bridge disappointments
Liaw Yew Peng was chief resident engineer of the first Penang Bridge in the 1980s and speaks about some of his happy memories – and disappointments.
8-9 lanes of traffic into Penang Island
If you think Penang is already congested, well, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
Three more lanes of traffic will pour into Penang Island once the second bridge is completed by 2013, if all goes as scheduled – adding to the three lanes of incoming traffic on the now widened existing Penang Bridge.
And if the cross-channel tunnel project from Gurney Drive to Butterworth goes ahead, which could add another two or three lanes of incoming traffic, we could see eight to nine lanes of incoming traffic choking the island by 2020.
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Sarawak Pakatan’s shadow cabinet proposal
In a step closer towards a two-coalition system in Sarawak, Sarawak Pakatan has come up with a 16-member shadow cabinet for the state.