PENANG: Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) had last week submitted a proposal to construct an estimated RM1.1 billion monorail for the island.

PPSB's announcement follows the Cabinet approval for the second bridge to be constructed by UEM Group and the decision to make an open tender for the monorail project.

PPSB managing director/CEO Datuk Ahmad Ibni Hajar said PPSB is confident to land the project due to its massive experience in the logistic and transportation business for the past 50 years.

"We believe PPSB is the only Penang-based company to bid for the project. It is fair for Penangites to reap the benefits as the bridge project was given to Kuala Lumpur-based UEM," he said in a press conference in his office here today (Aug 3, 2006).

"We have also been doing social service by operating the ferry services for more than 40 years. The losses have escalated from just hundreds of thousands of ringgit a year in 1985 (when the Penang Bridge was opened) to RM13 million last year.

"We also estimate that in the next five years, we will be losing RM30 million and this will be much worse when the second bridge is completed," he added.

Ahmad said PPSB first submitted its proposal to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department in March 2005, while the feasibility study was conducted in August the same year.

"Our proposal consists of three phases of construction. Phase 1 is an 18km link from Bayan Lepas Airport to the ferry terminal, Phase 2 an 11km connection from the ferry terminal to Paya Terubong and Phase 3 a 9.5km link from Komtar to Tanjung Tokong," he added.