SAM questions proposed new cable car line in Penang

A conservation group is questioning the rationale and need for the proposed new Penang Hill-Teluk Bahang cable car line at a time when the tourism industry is facing challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) president Meenakshi Raman questioned the need for new tourism products in Penang when the tourism industry was uncertain and bleak.

“A major lesson from the Covid19 pandemic is a serious rethink of the kind of investments that should be promoted, moving away from business-as-usual approaches that are environmentally destructive to genuinely environmentally sound projects centred on conservation and natural resource protection,” she said.

Meenakshi said bringing loads of people from Batu Ferringhi and Teluk Bahang up to Penang Hill by cable car might also gravely endanger the hill.

She said the hilltop had a limited carrying capacity, which meant that it might not be able to handle the load of people going up there via cable car.

“This project will involve the need for many heavy pylons along the route and a middle station in between, which means major construction work, roadbuilding, slope-cutting and excavation.

“Once the construction is over, a maintenance road below the cable car line will be needed.

“All this will cause much disruption to fragile and environmentally sensitive areas both in Penang Hill and Teluk Bahang, which have highland forests and water catchments,” she said.

Responding to Meenakshi’s concern on the hill’s carrying capacity, Penang Hill Corporation (PHC) general manager Datuk L.L. Cheok said the hilltop never had more than 1,500 people on average – even during peak seasons.

“We’ve expanded the train stations so that visitors have facilities where they can chill at but around the hill, we never have more than 1,500 visitors on average at a time.

“With digital tracking at the turnstiles, we are able to clock how long visitors are at the hilltop, minus the waiting time for the train.

“People spend 1.5 hours on average on the hilltop before returning to the train station,” he said, adding that the Penang Hill Special Area Plan had set a limit of 4,800 visitors at any one time.

“Theoretically, if every day was a holiday, the hill can accept four million visitors a day,” said Cheok, adding that the hill broke the record again last year with 1.86 million visitors.

On the proposal for the Penang Hill-Teluk Bahang cable car line, Cheok said PHC welcomed entrepreneurial input.

“The idea is not new. It was mooted to divert traffic and give people more options to get to the hilltop.

“I assure Penangites that there are no hotel or theme park plans for Penang Hill at all.

“PHC’s focus is on conservation and restoration. Give us some time to look into this cable car idea,” he said.