GEORGE TOWN, Aug 5 — The Ministry of Transport intends to make the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal (SPCT) as the home port for the cruise industry in an effort to bring more tourists to Penang.

Its minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said Penang is a state that has great potential in the tourism sector and he plans to improve the industry.

“Under the Ministry of Transport, our plan is to implement Fly & Cruise in Penang where SPCT will be used as a home port while the Penang International Airport (PIA) will be upgraded to allow more tourists to visit the state,” he said after holding a visit with the DAP candidate for Padang Kota area, Chow Kon Yeow, here today.

According to him, the PIA expansion project will be implemented soon and it will be a catalyst project to attract more tourists to visit Penang.

In addition, Loke said the new Penang ferry service will start operating on Monday connecting Pangkalan Raja Tun Uda (PRTU-Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal) and Pangkalan Sultan Abdul Halim (PSAH) in Butterworth.

He said apart from the ferry project and PIA expansion, his ministry will also implement the light rail transit (LRT) project in Penang, which may take longer to be realised.

“All these plans will be successfully implemented, if Penang remains with the Unity Government after this state election which is aligned with the federal government,” he said. — Bernama