Hui Ying, a senator, said she had told the Dewan Negara she would like to see that at least two of the three old ferries currently in use were retained.
“No one is saying that we object to the catamarans. However, and I made it very clear in my speech, the federal government should continue using the old ferries, even if at a slightly lower frequency, to complement the new catamaran service,” she said in a statement.
Hui Ying said she had called for Putrajaya to continue the vehicular ferry services after Dec 31, in contrast to the government’s plan of halting all vehicular ferry operations.
She urged Wee to “heed the call of Penangites” by allowing the vehicular ferry to continue in service, in line with the Pakatan Harapan government’s plan.
According to her, it was not the first time that Wee and his party, MCA, had attempted to divide DAP leaders with false statements.
“Wee and MCA should stop being defensive, desperately finding ways, including twisting our words, to justify his callous plan to terminate the iconic Penang ferries,” she said.
Guan Eng and Wee had been issuing statements on the ferry service, with the DAP secretary-general upset that the “iconic ferries” were being phased out to be replaced with more efficient ferry boats.
Wee previously announced that the old ferries would make way for “safer, faster and cheaper-to-maintain” water buses (for passengers) and transporters (for motorcycles), which were expected to arrive by mid-2022.
Guan Eng said plans to cancel the Penang vehicular ferry service at the end of the year proved that the Perikatan Nasional government was in “open confrontation” with the people of Penang, adding that the effort was led by Wee.
Hitting back at his criticisms, Wee questioned Guan Eng’s right to raise the matter as he was no longer chief minister.
He said the decision to replace the vehicular ferry services with passenger-carrying catamarans was agreed upon by the PH government, and that Hui Ying had also agreed with the move.
“Looks like the Lim family should call for a family meeting to standardise their views,” Wee said.