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‘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.

21 arrested at KL May Day gathering

Twenty one people were arrested during a peaceful Workers’ Day gathering in KL. Not the best way for the government to observe this day in honour of ordinary workers.

Among those arrested are Sungai Siput MP Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj and several other top PSM leaders, including its secretary general S Arutchelvan.

Green consciousness triumphs as Perak rare earth MOU is scrapped

Eleven days – that’s all it took for people power to pressure the Perak government and a ‘Hong Kong’ firm to terminate their MOU for a rare earth exploration project in Bukit Merah.

People’s Green Coalition formed

In a sign of an emerging ecological consciousness, a people’s green coalition has been formed to strengthen the green political agenda in Malaysia.

600000 Malaysians in Singapore?

Some 600000 Malaysians may be living and working in Singapore, which has a population of just over 5 million.

Penang-B’worth tunnel MOU signed

The Penang government intends to build a 6.5km tunnel from Gurney Drive to Butterworth, in addition to earlier announced highway-tunnel stretches.

Penang Transport Master Plan tender awarded

The Penang state government has awarded a RM3.2m tender for a Penang Transport Master Plan study to a planning and urban design firm based in Petaling Jaya.