Penang monorail project to kick off early next year

PENANG: The RM1.2bil Penang monorail project will be implemented early next year, Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said.
He said the state was now actively working out the project details with Syarikat Prasarana Nasional Berhad (SPNB) and hoped to complete them by December.
"Three local companies have so far submitted their proposals to carry out the monorail project in Penang.
"But, we want to first determine the monorail alignment before picking the company to do the job," he told reporters at the fourth sitting of the 11th state legislative assembly here Monday.
Dr Koh said SPNB was still negotiating with the state and federal governments on the project alignment and the necessary stations.
He said SPNB would assess the proposals by the three companies to determine which was more suitable and if the proposal met the needs and demands of the people.
Asked if there would be a monorail link between the island and mainland, Dr Koh said there were no immediate plans for that.
"It will not be something that will be carried out in the first and second phase of the project.
"It will be very costly to have a monorail link between the island and mainland.
"Besides, the distance will be too long and we will not be able to have a mid-station there," he said.
Dr Koh said such a link might be considered in the future if there were a high number of passengers using the monorail.

tunku : at last it will kick off early next year(i hope so) after a very long time since the announcement made. now the government have to start all the projects it highlighted as we are near to election time.yesterday government announced salary increase for the government staff. just wondering who will get the penang monorail job?there are three companies bidding for it and one of them is scomi, i don't know about the other two.