KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — Penang's Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng has hit back at Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, saying it is not unusual for him to question the decision to terminate Penang’s ferry service.
Lim said it is illogical for Wee to claim that he is behaving as though he is still Penang’s chief minister again simply because he raised the issue of the ferry service.
“Is it wrong for an MP and assemblyman from Penang to speak up on behalf of Penangites, particularly when the ferry terminal on the mainland is located in my parliamentary constituency of Bagan?” Lim said in a statement.
He said Wee is motivated by emotion and the drive to play dirty politics, claiming the minister is making personal attacks against him for opposing the termination of Penang’s ferry service.
“MCA claims that the decision to terminate the iconic Penang ferries was driven by statistics and economics, rather than emotions or politics.
“Wee cannot show proof that either the former Pakatan Harapan government or myself had agreed to terminate and replace the iconic Penang ferry service carrying cars and people with catamaran vessels that only carry motorcycles and people,” Lim said.
He claimed Wee even went as far as to drag former transport minister Anthony Loke and even Lim’s sister Senator Lim Hui Ying, as agreeing to the termination of the ferry services.
“Both Loke and Hui Ying had vehemently denied Wee’s desperate attempts to divide DAP leaders with false allegations,” he said.
Lim noted that Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz confirmed in Parliament on December 17 that the ministry had stipulated the continuation of the iconic ferry service as a condition for approving the RM30 million cash grant to Penang Port Sdn Bhd to run the ferry service, which occurred during Lim’s tenure as minister.
“Is Wee also saying that Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul was lying in Parliament on December 17?
“Wee claimed that replacing the iconic ferry service with catamarans is a more practical move to protect the safety of Penangites. Let me reiterate that the Pakatan Harapan government was never opposed to adding on catamarans provided that the existing ferry service is maintained,” he said.
He acknowledged the cost and difficulty of finding a suitable replacement and spare parts for the ferry service, since it is hard to do so in present times.
“New engines can be installed on the iconic ferries or 3D manufacturing can produce the spare parts no longer in production.
“That is why we insisted that the two or three ferries remaining are allowed to operate. In other words, the catamarans will be operating in parallel with the existing ferry services as being practiced by many countries such as Hong Kong or Canada, a co-existence of heritage and modernity,” Lim said.
The island-state’s ferry services are set to end this Thursday (December 31) after some 126 years in service.
On December 17, Penang Port Commission chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng said the old ferries will be stopped entirely by 2022 and replaced by water buses and vehicle transporters.
Wee has been on the warpath against Lim since the latter’s decision to openly criticise the service’s termination. In his latest Facebook post yesterday, Wee accused Lim of being ‘shameless’ and for not prioritising the safety of Penang residents, among others.
