BUKIT MERTAJAM, Nov 8 — The federal government will extend the Penang Light Rail Transit (LRT) project alignment to Seberang Perai to ensure balanced development in the state that benefits all segments of the people, regardless of race, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said he personally decided after reviewing the original proposal, which only involved areas on the island without connecting the line to the mainland.
“They (opposition) asked why the cost of the Penang LRT project is so high and why the price has increased. When the state government presented the plan to me, the LRT project only covered the island, and as someone born in Penang and raised in Seberang Perai, I did not want the project to stop there.
“So I proposed that the LRT cross the sea to Seberang Perai, and the project will extend to Penang Sentral in Seberang Perai. Otherwise, people would say we only care about the island, only about Chinese interests, and not about the mainland or the Malays. This is an unproductive polemic,” he said.
He said this when speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the traffic dispersal project between Juru Toll Plaza and Sungai Dua Toll Plaza (PTJSD) at the Seberang Jaya Expo Site here today, which was also attended by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi. — Bernama
