flood and links

well thank god there’s no more incessant rain in penang these days therefore no more flooding. it seems that in those 3 days of incessant rain which started from 8 oct, it was recorded that in the mainland, they had the highest rainfall ever ever since… a decade ago!

it is good to learn that at the recent penang state assembly, the state govt. had increased the allocation for flood mitigation projects from RM3.4 mil. this year to RM7.3 mil next year. the works to be carried out, according to tan sri dr koh tsu koon, are “deepening and reparing rivers, drainage systems and bridges, prevention of soil erosion at beaches and riverbanks and upgrading monsoon drains.

hmm… that sounds all well and nice… but will the works be carried out? and later on will there be lack of co-ordination again? a DAP MP from tanjung, chow kon yeow pointed out that in his constituency the flood mitigation project was started in 1994 and up to now it has not been completed! that’s how the govt. works for you!

in the state assembly, the 2nd link (bridge) for penang was also bought up. this new bridge will link penang from batu maung to the mainland at bukit kawan. i thought originally it was suppose to be at gurney drive? maybe they shif it to batu maung, now that the very-much controversial (and many against it, including me) penang outer ring road (PORR) is confirmed (despite much protests), will cut through gurney drive.

what? 2nd link and also PORR coming up? and this will solve the traffic problem? not at all! someone said ‘the more roads (or links) are being build, there will be more traffic” … and of course with it congestion.

instead of getting obsessed with ‘new’ projects, why don’t they improve on the existing roads or the ferry service?