I have to salute my Chief Minister, though I am from Penang now in PJ, and he is from Melaka now ruling my home-state!
Why? He has a good idea! Let the State run the Ferry! Here and Here.
Penang Ferry was the issue I blogged on May 4, 2008. Here. That was my 2nd posting in this blog.
On May 20, 2008, I carried a related news. Here.
Personally, we can improve the ferry service, cut down the wait time, enhance the environment, the natural breeze will do the rest!
If there is a political will, we can make it a profitable venture!
My dear CM, you can do it! Only the pessimists say "tidak Boleh!". They have been saying "Tidak Boleh" for decades, that is why nothing has been changed since.
Dear Datuk Transport Minister, give the challenge to "Penang Boleh", if LGE fails, he will have to face the Penangites!
Fair and Square!
Showing posts with label Penang My Birth Place. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Penang My Birth Place. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Penang ferry services to be upgraded
[The following is a piece of news from the Star, related to my earlier posting.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/20/nation/20080520162808&sec=nation. I did forward my last posting on ferry to Jeff Ooi and have not received any reply yet.]
Tuesday May 20, 2008 MYT 7:24:02 PM
Penang ferry services to be upgraded
By ZULKIFLY MOHAMAD
BUTTERWORTH: Penang ferry services between here and the island will not be scrapped despite losing over RM50mil over the past four years.
State Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said that the Finance Ministry, which owns Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) that operates the services, had made it clear that the services must not be stopped for whatever reason.
“We will instead upgrade the ferry services. We may also introduce catamarans to complement the existing services.
“However, the catamarans will only be used once approval is given by the Federal Government,” he told reporters Tuesday after attending a briefing on the ferry services and a visit to the ferry terminal here.
PPSB chief operating officer Mohd Niana Merican Abd Kadir Merican had said recently that the vehicular ferry service would be scrapped on completion of the expansion of the Penang Bridge in September next year.
He had said the company planned to operate a speedboat ferry service, as it was cheaper and more efficient.
Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop then said any decision to scrap the service between Penang island and Seberang Prai will be made only by the Federal Government.
He said both his ministry and the Transport Ministry would make such a decision if it proved to be viable.
“We have not decided on anything. The matter has not even been tabled to the Cabinet for consideration. At present, as far as the Finance Ministry is concerned, there is no issue over this."
Lim said the ferry services were running at a loss due to many reasons, including fuel increase and low passengers and traffic volume.
PPSB posted a loss of RM12.11mil for its ferry service operations in 2004, RM13.4mil (2005), RM10.73mil (2006) and RM14.69mil last year.
Presently, six of the eight ferries are used to ply between here and the island while the other two are on standby and under maintenance.
The six ferries ply 120 trips daily. Each trip cost PPSB RM772 and the company makes RM421 for each full load trip resulting in a loss of about RM350 for each trip.
Lim said an average of 4,000 cars, 5,500 motorbikes, 500 lorries and 6,000 passengers used the services daily.
“All in, 110,560 cars used the ferry services last year compared to 1.24mil cars that crossed the bridge during the period,” he added.
He said PPSB could not raise the ferry fares without the Government’s approval despite suffering annual losses.
He added the services might face a greater challenge when the expansion of the Penang bridge is completed in September next year and once the second bridge was ready in 2011.
On the upgrading exercise, Lim said the passengers waiting area at the Butterworth side would be improved.
“New fans will be installed and the floors will be tiled for easy maintenance and cleanliness,” he said.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/20/nation/20080520162808&sec=nation. I did forward my last posting on ferry to Jeff Ooi and have not received any reply yet.]
Tuesday May 20, 2008 MYT 7:24:02 PM
Penang ferry services to be upgraded
By ZULKIFLY MOHAMAD
BUTTERWORTH: Penang ferry services between here and the island will not be scrapped despite losing over RM50mil over the past four years.
State Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said that the Finance Ministry, which owns Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) that operates the services, had made it clear that the services must not be stopped for whatever reason.
“We will instead upgrade the ferry services. We may also introduce catamarans to complement the existing services.
“However, the catamarans will only be used once approval is given by the Federal Government,” he told reporters Tuesday after attending a briefing on the ferry services and a visit to the ferry terminal here.
PPSB chief operating officer Mohd Niana Merican Abd Kadir Merican had said recently that the vehicular ferry service would be scrapped on completion of the expansion of the Penang Bridge in September next year.
He had said the company planned to operate a speedboat ferry service, as it was cheaper and more efficient.
Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop then said any decision to scrap the service between Penang island and Seberang Prai will be made only by the Federal Government.
He said both his ministry and the Transport Ministry would make such a decision if it proved to be viable.
“We have not decided on anything. The matter has not even been tabled to the Cabinet for consideration. At present, as far as the Finance Ministry is concerned, there is no issue over this."
Lim said the ferry services were running at a loss due to many reasons, including fuel increase and low passengers and traffic volume.
PPSB posted a loss of RM12.11mil for its ferry service operations in 2004, RM13.4mil (2005), RM10.73mil (2006) and RM14.69mil last year.
Presently, six of the eight ferries are used to ply between here and the island while the other two are on standby and under maintenance.
The six ferries ply 120 trips daily. Each trip cost PPSB RM772 and the company makes RM421 for each full load trip resulting in a loss of about RM350 for each trip.
Lim said an average of 4,000 cars, 5,500 motorbikes, 500 lorries and 6,000 passengers used the services daily.
“All in, 110,560 cars used the ferry services last year compared to 1.24mil cars that crossed the bridge during the period,” he added.
He said PPSB could not raise the ferry fares without the Government’s approval despite suffering annual losses.
He added the services might face a greater challenge when the expansion of the Penang bridge is completed in September next year and once the second bridge was ready in 2011.
On the upgrading exercise, Lim said the passengers waiting area at the Butterworth side would be improved.
“New fans will be installed and the floors will be tiled for easy maintenance and cleanliness,” he said.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Revive the Penang Ferries
Have you been to Penang? Even better, have you taken the ferry?
When I was a kid, Penang was not only an entreport, but also a duty-free island. We kids were asked by our parents to be small-time smugglers! However, of all the things, we only smuggled shirts by wearing extras and hiding away sundries like Colgate. The Custome Officers on Butterworth checked adults thoroughly, but usually let loose on the kids!
The map above shows how the Penang Island was connected via ferry to the Mainland town of Butterworth. The Mainland part of Penang used to be called Province Wellesley (PW), a term now overtaken by Seberang Perai (SP), which RTM at times ignorantly equate it with the name of the town called Prai!
Ferry used to be the only means of getting across the Penang Channel. The ferry is double-decked. The upper deck is for pedestrians who walk to and fro between the ferry and bus stop. The bottom deck is meant for motored vehicles including the lorries, cars and motorcycles, and also bicycles. Later part of the history, a second wharf was constructed for each side of the channels, with the upper deck meant for cars also; and thus another type of ferry was introduced, with both decks for motored vehicles only.
I was told that our Penang ferry modelled upon the Hoog Kong equivalent, but I have never taken the Hong Kong one to confirm this.
I enjoyed taking the ferry both as a pedestrian as well as a motorcyclist. There used to be a small shop on the upper deck, and the 20-cent ice-cream was my favorite!Lately, I have tried taking the ferry too, just to reminisce.
The breeze, the short break after a tiring traffic jam and the walking-up-and-down the decks would have make one happy with travelling on the ferry.
However, there are three problems about choosing the ferry over the Penang Bridge:
- You are not sure about the timing of the ferry, you may have to wait a long time as it not only depends on the density of the traffic, but also the number of ferries in service at taht particulat time.
- For pedestrians, connecting means of transport after taking the ferry is also a headache as buses were not regular, taxi is expensive and trishaw-beca was not popular. I am not sure if this problem has improved with the introduction of Rapid Penang, can someone advise me on this?
- For cars, you may have to face the long queue waiting for the ferry, I am also not sure how bad is this problem now.
For regular travellors who know the above problems, proper scheduling would save a lot of time.
I know of my kampungmate, Mr Low the accountant, who is taking the ferry every day. He must have some clues. Hope to hear from him too.
We voted in the new Gomen (I played my part as I have voted for the State Deputy Speaker), let's hope our Guan Eng and his team can do something on improving the ferry service, while waiting for the dilly-dally vengeful decision on whether to build the 2nd Link and how much should UEM profit from it...
Related links for reading:
http://www.penangport.com.my/english/facilities/ferry_cruise.htm
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