FINALLY the government is proceeding with the bridge.
A tunnel instead of a bridge, from my non-engineering layperson point of view, may not be possible due to the short
distance between our border and our shoreline. (Unless you want gradients of roads exceeding 45%?)
Its not not surprising that our neighbour has been reluctant to participate. When one party may perceive that they may not gain much but instead may lose more economically, this feet-dragging delay may not be that surprising.
Over the years too there have been many attempts to discourage spending here. 3/4 full petrol tanks before leaving the country, restrictions on bringing in stuff like certain food or even cigarettes, are amongst such perceived restrictions. Then theres the preceived long delays in their CIQ to exit as well and enter.
And upon completion of a "scenic" bridge, there are great environmental benefits. Cleaner waters and healthier marine life. Some marine life would meet their long lost relatives too(as per berlin wall anology)! BUT if we are to utilize the waterways for economic reasons such as leisure based shipping, and more importantly linking PTP and Port of Pasir Gudang by way of large barges, then there is every reason to believe this may make our neighbours a bit uncomfortable. It may be helpful for our public if our authorities and ports open up and reveal the exact plans they have in this regard. Too many people on either side appear to underestimate the benefits of an open waterway along the straits, especially for us.
BUT if the waterways are going to be shallow and not dredged, then all the controversy against the bridge may be justified. The bridge then would be just an excuse to build an over-inflated priced bridge designed to enrich certain people, in the usual Malaysia Boleh tradition.
JB definitely needs this project. Traffic needs to be diverted out of the city. The jams are just clogging the inner city roads and becoming a nuisance for the people.
For too many years now things are at an almost standstill state in Johor, particularly JB. Its mostly been private sector driven development. The State and its local authorities are only busy planting carpet grass all over the town and lavishly landscaping and putting up expensively priced cheap lamposts. They cant even build proper roads and theres much potholes all over town. The papers highlighted an old man in a bicycle patching up potholes on his own, and i dont think any government official responded to that swipe. I digress again from the bridge issue.
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6 comments:
So they're carrying on with that weird looking bridge. It'll be an eye-sore, I think. There are doubts on the authencity of the report, though
I do have some questions, though.
1. Will this bridge in any way alleviate the congestion?
2. How much toll are we expected to pay?
3. What about the railway tracks? I read somewhere that a swing bridge was proposed.
4. What about those huge pipes where we are selling water to Singapore for a song and buying some back at a ridiculous markup?
5. Will the contractor of the project, who by the way has had no track record whatsoever, do a good job?
6. Will we see barges and tugboats more often in the Straits?
7. Is there any connection between this bridge and the proposed millionaire's marina at Danga Bay?
8. Are there any plans for S'pore extend their MRT lines to JB? That would really be beneficial to everyone.
9. By footing the bill entirely, does the gov't expect more S'poreans will come over and spend their money here to offset that?
10. I wonder who got the license to open a petrol station at start of the Johor side of the bridge.
First the short reply.
@Kaiser
Yes, our lovable neighbour appear to be the only reason why the bridge is delayed and as a result supposedly millions need to be spent re-building the old flyover to link the causeway to the new CIQ complex. Until the bridge is completed.
Now, the longer one
@ madnoh
The lovable neighbour side may be feigning ignorance. Or the usual occurence would be our bungling fellas havent played politics smartly and announced the commencement before officially informing our neighbour.
1. Alleviate congestion?
No more congestion along Jalan Tun Razak and much lower traffice volume along Jalan Wong Ah Fook.
Congestion in inter-country traffic? Not much difference once its completed. There already is a bottleneck on our neighbour's side. Theyre supposedly slow in clearing traffic.
2. Toll? No mention thus far. Definitely going to increase, knowing our ways.
3. Railway. Ahhhhhhh... our or should i say my biggest worry. Yes, it is supposed to be a swing bridge. Train comes, swing bridge links up to allow smooth flow. Train gone, swing bridge opens to allow barges and smaller ships to pass through.
Knowing our poor culture of maintenance especially in the government and related bodies, whats the guarantee this bridge wont be screwed up. A comparatively simpler baggage handling system at KLIA breaks down often. What more a swing bridge.
4. Water pipes. We may have to re-lay new pipes, embedded in the sea. Thats the plan, if am not mistaken.
5. Its the same fella who supposedly left many people with unpaid bills when the power boat race was held here years ago. But the thing is, this construction is supervised by JKR. There are a few good people running it. Theyve been doing an ok job thus far. The people pushing for the project...track record? What track record. What major project in this country requires you to have a track record lah, esp the government related projects.
The system works on the basis of who knows the ones in power. And who the person in power decides to enrich.
6. Yes, we may see lots of barges, tugboats, yatchs, small cruise boats, and the ever present neighbour's marine police.
7.So far, no connection as far as we know. But there has been rumours of a major involvement of the federal government into some areas here.
Eh, the stulang side of the bridge itself has been earmarked for massive commercial, leisure, residential developments. Its something that they supposedly had a right to do in return of building the CIQ etc.
8. MRT? Theoretically its an ideal solution to to solve inter-country traffic congestion. But knowing how both parties play politics no one knows if this will ever be a reality.
9. By footing the bill, the govt. goes ahead with a contract. So the CIQ wont be a white elephant. So theres use of the straits ..(hopefully for major economic reasons) Expect them to come and spend money to offset? Very very indirectly perhaps. Make it easier for them to come over, spend money. Invest. Local business enjoy benefits and pay higher taxes (assuming Income tax dept. does their work). More job opportunites here. More resettlement of industries and businesses there to here due to cost differentials.
The sad part is, as it stands, i feel we are not doing enough to encourage them to come over to take advantage of the lower costs here. Our ppl at the top appear to be more busy playing politics.
More will come, if we clean our act. And the police does their job and reduce crime substantially in the city. You hardly see a policeman around, or even a patrol car. Crime will deter visitors. Sigh.
10. Petrol station? Err i dont wish to get banished from the state and therefore opts to not share rumours :))
Phew..penat..
Thanks for the reply, you managed to clear the air on some matters somewhat. As for item 10: banished from the state? Good hint! *wink wink*
jb is improving now... very fast i can say..
The tendency by Malaysians to set a lower bar to achieve, when the aim should be higher. When you are next to a rich and small country, any tom, dick and harry will know one should milk that cow of a country. For starters, the police should start doing their jobs and reduce crime which is getting so rampant.
JB is improving at a snail's pace. We need a new MB.
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