Road widening projects required before LRT, chief minister Lim says

GEORGE TOWN (Feb 18): Remedial measures must be taken to ease traffic congestion before other stages of the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan can begin, according to chief minister Lim Guan Eng (pictured).

“We cannot just sit, wait and do nothing for 10 years. We need to take medium-term measures like widening our roads,” he said.

“Making roads wider is not something wrong,” he said in his speech last night at Seri Delima assemblyman R S N Rayer’s Chinese New Year open house, in response to a television news report criticising the state government for widening roads.

He said local authorities were removing 16 trees along Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling for a 1.8km road widening project.

However, he said it was not true that the trees earmarked to be uprooted were more than 100 years old, as reported, adding that the trees would be replanted elsewhere.

On Tuesday, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) also urged Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to cancel the road widening project on Jalan Masjid Negeri to spare mature trees.

CAP president S M Mohamed Idris said it was not good enough for the council to just reduce the number of trees to be chopped down to make way for the project, citing an announcement by MBPP that the number of trees affected along the Jalan Scotland-bound stretch from the junctions of Lorong Batu Lanchang to Jalan Air Itam would be reduced from 33 to 18.

He said even if the number would be further reduced, there would still be trees sacrificed just to enable cars to move faster.

“Our space, our trees are being sacrificed for the car gods... we are upset that consideration is being given to vehicle movement at the expense of trees.

“The roadside trees provide many benefits to us, including providing oxygen, much needed cooling, cleaner air, shade, a sound barrier, storm water absorption and greenery that gives the road a distinctive charm and character,” he said.

Lim said the local authorities recently spent RM7 million on the Udini roundabout nearby that made traffic flow in the busy Green Lane area smoother for the convenience of the public.

He said 40 trees had to be relocated for the project, a move that was also protested by certain groups.

“In Penang, we let you protest if you are unhappy. We allow that kind of freedom of expression, but what the state is doing is for the good for the people, not to make profit.

“Anyway, in Penang we do not cut down forests like other states. If we have to uprooted trees, we will replant them elsewhere,” he said. -- The Malaysian Insider

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