It is only supposed to be 17km long but even before work can begin, a proposed highway project aimed at decongesting the northern island of Penang is creating ripples of discontent.

Critics say the RM1 billion (US$263 millon) project has all the ingredients to spark controversy: lack of transparency in the tender award, demolition of houses, far too favourable terms for the developer, political interests in the firm chosen to handle the project, and environmental concerns.

The voices expressing disapproval have become more vocal after the blueprint for the project dubbed the Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) were put on display recently.

The irony in the choice of venue for the public display  so the proposed route will be close to thousands of homes.

Putting up with the sound and noise pollution during construction would have been a small price to pay if only the project could solve Penang's transport woes. But critics argue that creating more roads will only lead to more cars rapidly filling up these roads and then it's back to square one: congested roads.

Ready answer

The project's proponents have a ready answer: it's not the building of new roads per se that leads to increased traffic. There are a host of other factors, they say: economic affluence, population growth, policies on private vehicle ownership  show us the numbers.''

The last major traffic study was the Penang Urban Transport Study in 1998, which looked into the traffic implications of a proposed third link: a new bridge joining Penang island to the mainland peninsula, in addition to the existing bridge and ferry service.

It predicted that PORR, which it assumed would be completed by 2002, would ease traffic flow and save travel time — but only for about eight years before roads become congested again.

It is the lack of emphasis given to sustainable transport that irks activists. Even as more roads are built, public transport in Penang continues to be neglected. The bus service is so poor that some three quarters of Penang residents use private vehicles to travel to work compared to 30 percent in certain European cities with well developed public transport systems.

And consider this: in the year 2000, Penang had 321 cars per 1000 persons compared to 96 for Singapore and 49 for Hong Kong.

Make things worse

The ostensible objective of PORR is to produce a better transport system, notes Ganesh. ''But is that what is going to happen?'' he asks, adding that ''it will only make things worse in the long run.''

The project, he laments, will change land use and jeopardise future options for a more sustainable transport system in the future. ''Once you get locked into road dependence, it's going to be very hard to reverse that trend.''

There are serious environmental concerns: as it arcs around the city, PORR is expected to slice through the popular Youth Park, one of Penang's few green lungs. It will also destroy the existing seafront on Gurney Drive, where land reclamation will be carried out to push the sea front outwards. Planners however say new parks will be created on some of the reclaimed land and a new coastline will be developed.

The president of the Consumers Association of Penang, S M Mohd Idris, said all further plans related to PORR should be put on hold until the outcome of a new environmental impact assessment. ''The outcome of the EIA review must be left open, transparent, and flexible, without any pressure on the Department of the Environment to endorse the project.''

''To cut through Youth Park...with a highway and not reveal anything on the adverse impact is a blatant disregard of public interest,'' he said. Others are calling for a Social Impact Assessment to be carried out as well.

Meanwhile, the credibility of project concessionaire Peninsular Metroworks Sdn Bhd, has been called into question.

''There was no bidding, no transparency ⏼ one doesn't know what negotiations went on (between the government and the firm),'' says a Penang-based consultant civil engineer familiar with the industry.

''It was awarded to a company that doesn't have a background in highway and it wasn't done in a transparent way.''

Completed on time

Not surprisingly, Penang deputy chief minister Hilmi Yahaya feels such concerns are unjustified. ''There is nothing to worry about as the federal and state governments are there to make sure that the project would be completed on time,'' he said.

He also noted that ''even though some of the (firm's) shareholders had been declared bankrupt, they were relieved of bankruptcy now,'' adding that there were many other capable directors on the company's board.

Certainly, the firm appears to have little to lose. They could earn about 2.0 billion ringgit from the 500 acres of reclaimed land along Gurney Drive alone and that figure could rise as the land is developed. What's more, the firm will also receive 31 hectares of prime state land along the proposed route.

And if that's not enough, toll booths at four points along the proposed route will collect a total of five ringgit for a return journey. And that's just for starters, before any toll hikes over the next 30 years.

One thing is for sure: as traffic volumes surge, the sound of cash registers ringing will seem like music to the ears of the concessionaire.