KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 — DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has today accused Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz of incompetence, after Putrajaya announced it will not continue the Penang ferry service.
Lim said that the announcement of the ferry service’s cancellation made by transportation minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong was “an unequivocal declaration” of Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) open confrontation with Penang citizens.
“Furthermore, the cancellation of the iconic 126-year-old Penang ferry service is an unequivocal declaration of the PN government’s open confrontation with the people of Penang.
“This is not the first time that Penang has suffered badly from the heavy hand of vengeance politics since the PN government took over in March 2020,” he wrote in a statement.
Penang’s former chief minister also questioned the finance minister's credibility after failing to fulfill his promise to continue Penang ferry service on December 17 and has committed “a cardinal sin” by willfully misleading the Parliament.
Earlier this week, Wee said more automobiles are expected to use Penang Bridge and Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge to travel between the mainland and island because it is safer, quicker and cheaper than by ferries.
The transport minister confirmed in a statement that come 2021, two fast ferry vessels will carry foot passengers while one existing Prasarana-owned ferry will carry motorcycles and bicycles across the channel so there would not be any vehicular ferries for four-wheeled vehicles.
Wee said the decision made was aimed at making the Penang ferry service safer, faster and less prone to unsustainable maintenance costs.
He claimed that the existing 47-year-old ferries were prone to incurring maintenance costs on an average of once a month.
Wee also said Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz had confirmed that RM30 million was allocated for the fleet modernisation and that the sum will be released in two tranches, in 2021 and 2022.
