JOHOR PROPOSES CONSTRUCTING ESSENTIAL ALIGNMENTS FIRST IF ART IS APPROVED -- EXCO

By Nur Fatin Mohmad Kadenen

ISKANDAR PUTERI, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- The Johor State Government has proposed that the Automated Rapid Transit (ART) project be implemented on important alignments first if the project receives approval from the federal government.

Johor Public Works, Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said alignments in the Tebrau area, for example, which often experience traffic congestion, should be given priority.

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He said this step is important to ensure that the implementation of the ART project is expedited to disperse traffic in the affected areas, alongside the operation of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project next year.

“The Tebrau area is the most congested, we can probably prioritise this alignment first and then focus on other alignments.

“For example, if the alignment involves a route of about 20 kilometres, we can do it as a package and contractors can work together to speed up construction,” he told Bernama when interviewed at his office in Kota Iskandar recently.

Mohamad Fazli said the state government initially proposed three alignments including Skudai and Iskandar Puteri to the Ministry of Transport (MOT), in addition to considering adding an alignment in Pasir Gudang.

However, he said the proposal for the new alignment in Pasir Gudang had not been raised with the ministry so far.

According to him, the state government had waited about a year to get approval for the project even though a study had been done considering that its implementation cost was lower than the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Project.

“At that time, apart from looking at the lower construction cost, the construction time may also be shorter than the LRT, thus speeding up the related process,” he said.

In this regard, he reiterated his hope that the federal government would immediately approve the project, thus supporting the operation of RTS Link.

The delay in implementation, he said, is expected to cause the city to experience congestion for the next few years.

“Whether or not this ART has to be done, let’s just say we are late in receiving approval, so we will have several years of Johor Bahru being congested, besides there is a study of Johor Bahru being the fourth most congested in Malaysia,” he said.

Previously, Mohamad Fazli was quoted as saying that the estimated total cost of providing LRT infrastructure in Johor was RM16.7 billion, compared to the ART which only involved about RM7 billion.

Last December, Transport Minister Anthony Loke was quoted as saying that the approval of the ART project was under discussion and details regarding its implementation would be finalised in the near future.

Loke said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi had also held discussions on the matter.

The Regent of Johor Tunku Mahkota Ismail also spoke and expressed concern over the traffic congestion problems that will arise when the RTS Link is operational and the ART project has not yet been implemented.

-- BERNAMA