GEORGE TOWN: Two Penang Island City Council members are butting heads over comments one made in a printed article about the island’s proposed transit system.
In a press statement yesterday, Dr Lim Mah Hui said fellow DAP-appointee, Chris Lee, had allegedly misquoted him in his article titled "Penang at a Crossroad".
"Lee, in his reply to my article, said I changed my mind and (now) support an elevated light railway transit (LRT) system.
"Nowhere in my article did I propose an elevated LRT. I simply cited researcher Roger Teoh’s analysis that shows cities with urban rail systems (trams, LRT or metro) reduce their car use," Lim said.
Lim said some of Lee's statements must be corrected, as they are not accurate and have deliberately distorted his position.
Lim, who is a member of a coalition of civil society groups known as the Penang Forum, said its position is for the state to prioritise building an efficient public transport system over constructing more highways.
"As it stands, the Penang Forum is opposed to the Penang Transport Master Plan project delivery partner SRS Consortium proposing, and the state accepting, an LRT and monorail systems without proper comparison of the pros and cons of other alternative modes of public transport systems," he said.
Lim added factors such as population size, ridership, financial costs and sustainability, environmental issues (noise and visual pollution) must be taken into account to determine the most appropriate type of public transport system for Penang.
