But Harris believes the macro development of Labuan should not stop with just building the infrastructure.
In fact, Harris has already drawn up an elaborate plan on how the bridge can be built without the federal government having to spend much while at the same time spur economic activities on the island.
Speaking to FMT on Thursday, Harris laid down his vision for Labuan, an island located 170km from here, complete with a complex for retired people on two parcels of reclaimed land, each measuring 2,000ha, between the island and the Sabah mainland.
“Currently, Labuan is not economically viable to justify the building of this bridge. Until there is a good reason for it, the bridge will be seen as unnecessary because it will be severely underused,” he said.
However, he said the people in Labuan need road connectivity to the mainland and, towards this end, put forward his solution to this dilemma.
Presently, he said the most obvious way to build the bridge would be for the federal government to pay contractors to do it.
Unfortunately, at the moment the money could be put to better use for other projects such as repairing dilapidated schools and funding hospitals all over Sabah and Sarawak, he said.
Furthermore, the bridge would not be seen as economical as only a few cars will use it since there is a lack of economic activity on the island and the landing areas in the mainland.
“What the government could do however is to allow for a delineation of Labuan. Add 10,000 acres (4,000ha) of reclaimed lands between the island and the mainland. On these lands, build housing complexes for retired people.”
In his plan, these complexes would feature housing areas, a golf course, a recreational park, a marina on each of the man-made islands, commercial buildings as well as a high-end restaurant overlooking the bridge.
The shape of the “islands” is based on flower petals, said Harris.
He admitted he got the idea from Dubai’s famed Palm Islands, which consist of three artificial islands, each taking the form of a palm tree, topped by a crescent, for building luxurious sea-facing homes.
“So the government does a land swap deal with the contractor. Give them the reclaimed land and they build the bridge.
“If this is done, there is no need for the government to pay for the feasibility studies. The contractor would happily carry it out,” he said.
However, he warned this plan will only work if Labuan’s tourism infrastructure, which includes the expansion of the airport and construction of better hotels, is done and if the government extends the policy of granting permanent residence for retired overseas people, as it has done in Johor and Langkawi.
Any seaview properties, he said, would lure high-income people to retire there.
Hence, his confidence the project could easily attract up to 50,000 retirees to choose Labuan over other more established locations such as Jakarta and Bangkok.
The local economic spin-offs would also be huge since these additional residents would need to be fed and will demand medical care and recreational services, creating job opportunities for the locals, he said.
“Not only that, these retirees are all experts in their own fields. Our locals can learn from their experiences and this would also motivate them,” he said.
Anticipating objections to his reclamation and dredging idea by environmentalists, Harris said the sea on the eastern side of Labuan, where the proposed bridge will be built, needs to be deepened anyway to allow 500,000-tonne ships to pass through it on the way to other ports.
Besides, he said the sea on the east side of Labuan was not a fishing ground for the locals as the majority of the fish was only found on the northern and western parts of the island.
In a nutshell, Harris said, while he was happy to see some kind of progress on building the bridge, it could only be done without jeopardising the development efforts in Sabah and Sarawak.
“I know how the government works and I realise that for the government, at the moment, the Labuan bridge is not a priority compared with development in Sabah and Sarawak.”
Labuan Bridge a necessity to boost island’s sluggish economy, says PKR