Penang PKR assemblyperson Norlela Ariffin has appealed to state legislative assembly speaker Law Choo Kiang not to reject the two motions she has submitted to him yesterday.

The Penanti assemblyperson hopes that her two motions – on the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) and Budget 2016 – will be allowed to be debated in the coming sitting which starts from May 10 to 20.

Norlela said she has submitted 16 motions to Law last year – 10 in May and six in November proceedings but all were rejected.

In one of her motions this time, Norlela urged the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to study the PTMP agreement which will be inked by the Penang government and SRS Consortium in June this year.

She asked if the PTMP can be realised by the 14th general election since its implementation must be approved by the BN-led federal government as transport comes under its jurisdiction.

She also asked if the PTMP can provide equal benefits and opportunities for urban and rural folks, and those living on the island and mainland in Seberang Perai.

“PAC should study whether there was enough participatory planning on the PTMP , and whether the state has considered all public feedback, including any alternative proposal which may be more cost-effective than the one proposed by SRS Consortium,” she said.

“We would like PAC to consider whether the PTMP, which includes several reclamation projects, would be the best approach for the state government and Penangites to address the state’s traffic problems,” she added.

“PAC should also review whether four different transport systems are better than an integrated system proposed by the 15 local NGOs, which issued a statement to request Penang not to rush into endorsing the PTMP as its implementation needed more consultation and transparency,”

Law, when contacted this morning, said he was studying all the motions submitted by the various assemblypersons, and would decide soon whether to allow them to be debated.

Besides Norlela’s, there are four other motions, including one on term limit on the chief minister’s post by Teh Yee Cheu (Tanjung Bungah), reclamation by Muhammad Farid Saad (Pulau Betong) and on formalising the position of deputy chief minister in the state government structure by Lee Khai Loon (Machang Bubok).

PKR’s whip and Bukit Tengah assemblyperson Ong Chin Wen has proposed reforms to the state assembly select committee and suggested the formation of new committees for local government, land office and government agencies, and statutory body and government-linked companies.