GEORGE TOWN, Oct 13 — There was no assurance from the Transport Ministry that Penang’s iconic ferry service will continue uninterrupted especially during upgrading works to the ferry terminal, state exco Zairil Khir Johari (DAP - Tanjung Bungah) said at the state legislative assembly today.
The Infrastructure and Transport Committee chairman said there was also no assurance from the federal government that the ferry service will not be scrapped entirely.
“I agree with Air Putih that the ferry service is an important part of Penang. It is an icon of Penang that has been in service since 1864 and should never be suspended,” he said in reply to a question by Lim Guan Eng (DAP - Air Putih) regarding the ferry service.
Zairil said the state government wants an assurance from the Transport Ministry (MoT) that the ferry service will not be suspended at all.
He said the state government met the ministry on August 27 to discuss transport issues in Penang including the ferry service.
“The state has applied to the MoT to present an overall upgrading works plan for the ferry terminal including the operations of new ferries to the state before the ministry implements the works,” he said.
He said during the meeting, the MoT said that it will involve the state government once a new ferry service business model prepared by Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) was approved.
“The Penang chief minister wrote to the MoT on September 8 to involve the state government in any decisions or plans for the ferry service as it is an important transport service for Penang but the state is yet to hear anything from the ministry,” he said.
Earlier, Lim said the management of the ferry operations was supposed to be transferred to PPSB early this year when he was still the finance minister but the plan was delayed due to the change in government and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When I was finance minister, we had a plan to ensure that the ferry service will continue operations because it is a service iconic to Penang that should never be scrapped,” he said.
He said the ferry operations were under Rapid Ferry, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, and Prasarana was ready to stop operations of the service as it did not have enough funds to continue operating it.
“I hope the state government will stand firm to ensure that the federal government or Prasarana does not suspend the ferry service entirely and to handover operations to PPSB for it to manage the operations and continue with its service,” he said.
