In separate press statements issued today, Lim and Teng pointed fingers at each other over these two key issues.
On the issue of infrastructure, Lim said BN chairman Najib Razak had clearly said that BN had no solution to overcome Penang’s increasing traffic congestion.
He said this did not come as a surprise as Najib had promised three times to build a light rail transit (LRT) network. It was promised earlier by former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi but the promise remained unfulfilled.
“Instead of offering traffic solutions, Najib has chosen instead to gloat that there is no light at the end of the undersea tunnel project, proposed by the Penang government to provide a third link, connecting North Seberang Perai at Bagan Ajam to Gurney Drive.
“By clearly undermining one of our infrastructure projects, BN has shown that it has no solution for Penang’s traffic congestion and public transport plans except to sabotage the Penang government’s initiatives to alleviate traffic congestion,” Lim said in a statement today.
He said the tunnel would bring development to those living in the northern part of the mainland.
Lim questioned why the people in the area should be denied a link when the central and southern parts of the mainland had the first bridge and second bridge.
Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, said Pakatan Harapan had a better proposal then BN’s LRT, not just for the island but also on the mainland, in Seberang Jaya, Butterworth, Bukit Mertajam and Batu Kawan.
“The LRT should benefit not just those on the island but also those in Seberang Perai because Seberang Perai is also Penang,” he said.
To this, Teng said BN had never sabotaged any of the state government’s infrastructure initiatives to alleviate traffic congestion. The real culprits were DAP’s state representatives, he added.
Teng said the state had also failed in carrying out the projects due to a lack of political will and a well-thought-out plan to implement all initiatives they had promised to the Penang people.
The state Gerakan chairman also said Lim had objected to the LRT promised by BN, if they were to capture the state in the 13th general election.
Teng claimed Lim had instead wanted a tram system.
“BN failed to capture Penang and, therefore, was unable to deliver the LRT as we did not get the mandate.
“Abdullah had promised the second bridge and LRT. He managed to deliver the bridge as promised but not the LRT as he was prematurely ousted.”
Teng also questioned how the tunnel project was supposed to solve the state’s traffic woes when it would only be built in 15 years.
He refuted Lim’s claim that a third link would bring development to those living in the northern part of the mainland, stating that the area had its own industrial zones, even before Batu Kawan.
“With Penang Sentral in Butterworth coming up as a transport hub, the northern part of Seberang Perai is poised to grow from this new hub.
“But all this was planned by the BN administration before 2008 and implemented after 2008.
“The DAP-led state government has no clue of doing such planning.
“That is why they keep arguing on the third link to push the growth of North Seberang Perai,” he said.
Affordable housing
Lim said the only goodies for Penang in the BN manifesto unveiled last night by Najib was the promise of 65,000 units of affordable housing.
“This is an empty promise because BN had claimed they had built more than 10,000 units under PR1MA when there is not even a single unit in Penang.
“The price of affordable homes under BN is also higher at RM400,000 when compared with Pakatan’s RM300,000.”
Lim also claimed that BN had increased the price of low-cost homes from RM42,000 to RM60,000 and the price of low-medium-cost homes from RM72,500 to RM100,000.
He said the Penang government had opposed such an increase as applicants would not be able to get housing loans with that kind of high prices.
Rebutting Lim, Teng said Penangites should realise that the affordable homes by the DAP-led state government were priced at RM300,000. The price was much more than the RM72,000 offered during BN’s administration.