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Media Statement
by Chow Kon Yeow

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(Penang, Saturday) :  The Penang DAP is concern that the government may grant UEM Builders Bhd an extension of the concession period for the existing Penang Bridge to help the company raise funds for the Second Penang Bridge project.

UEM Builders has a 25 year concession which expires in 2018 for the existing Penang Bridge and it would be unfair to the people to extend the concession period.

According to a report in The Edge on November 27, the government may extend the concession for the first bridge because it is envisaged that the second bridge will take away a fair amount of traffic passing through the first bridge.

“Hence, the first bridge’s concessionaire is likely to suffer from lower traffic volumes when the second bridge comes on-stream. An extension of the concession is a simple way of ensuring the financial model of the first bridge is not disrupted,” an analyst said in the report.

The Penang DAP is also concern that there are indications that the UEM Builders may not be able to build the Second Penang Bridge on a strictly PFI basis.

The Edge reported that according to some sources, another funding mechanism is being brandied about including a loan from the Chinese Government to build the second bridge.

The Penang DAP therefore calls for greater transparency in the dealing of the second bridge project. In the first place, there was no open tender and UEM Builders was awarded the project on a silver platter. This is contrary to what was preached by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The government has not be able to convince us that UEM Builders is capable of implementing the second bridge project which involve a construction cost of between RM 2.8 billion to RM 3 billion.

But this did not stop the Prime Minister and Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon from performing a political show in a hurriedly arranged ground-breaking ceremony in November, ahead of the UMNO General Assembly.

The people are kept into the dark as to the terms of the second bridge concession, like the amount of toll and the concession period. This may be compounded by the fact that the first bridge concession will expire in 2018.

It is not too late to consider other options like building the second bridge parallel to the existing first bridge, with each bridge catering to one flow of traffic and imposing only one bridge toll.

(2/12/2006)