GEORGE TOWN: Barisan Nasional (BN) will be able to keep its promise to cancel the undersea tunnel project if it comes to power in the state as it will not have to pay compensation, says Penang BN chief Teng Chang Yeow.
He said even the three roads paired with the tunnel project would be cancelled as there was a “no compensation” clause in the agreement signed between the contractors and the Penang government.
He based this on an article published in The Edge on June 15, 2016, quoting the contractors who said they would only make claims for work done if the project was cancelled.
“Now there are no works on the tunnel. The chief minister himself said the works will begin in 2027.
“So, if BN cancels it, there is no compensation to be paid,” Teng said in a press conference at the Penang Gerakan headquarters here today.
Penang BN made a promise to cancel the undersea tunnel project, hill site developments and reclamation works in its election manifesto launched last Sunday.
Teng said as for the reclamation projects in Gurney Drive, Penang BN would only cancel the three islands project south of the island and the 131-acre Gurney Wharf project.
The wharf is to be built by reclaiming land from the shore of Gurney Drive, creating a land mass 5km eastward from the Gurney Drive foreshore.
The three islands projects were mooted to self-finance a transport master plan worth RM27 billion.
Teng also thanked Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for reading Penang BN’s manifesto, telling him the promises made were not to “buy votes” but to “save Penang”.
He said BN did not want to “choke Penangites to death” as claimed by Lim, but had implemented many traffic alleviating measures over the years.
Teng said former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had launched RapidPenang in 2007, introducing bus services in every corner of the state.
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