RESIDENTS of Penang Island were recently hit by a shockwave of a kind that they have not felt for some time now. The tremor had nothing to do with shifting tectonic plates or any subterranean movements. But the convulsion was an all too familiar one, although some people thought it had subsided after being at its height about a decade ago.

The Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR), it was reported last week, is being revived. The federal government had agreed to restart the project after it had been shelved last year when it was excluded from the mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan, reported The Edge.

The Penang government responded by saying it was in the dark about details of the project. The state has issued a letter to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to request for a briefing, and had sent a few reminders, but as of early this week was still awaiting a response.

What made people sit up about the news were the preliminary details that leaked out. The most brazen was the reported move by the project’s concessionaire to seek rights to reclaim 61ha in Gurney Drive. It was also looking at reclaiming another 142ha in Middle Bank, a site close to the Weld Quay jetties near Jelutong.

The project itself is said to entail the construction of an 18km toll highway cutting across the island from Tanjong Tokong to the Penang Bridge. Take your finger and run it between the two points across a map, and you would find forested hills and water catchments along the route, together with public parks and crowded townships.

The federal government funding for the project is reportedly RM150 million while the concessionaire would come up with the rest.

And a private company Daya Aliran Inovasi Sdn Bhd – with Datuk Ahmad Ismail, the former Umno Bukit Bendera division chief, as its shareholder – has submitted a proposal on the project to the state government, it was further said.

Ahmad, as many may well remember, became executive chairman of Peninsular Metroworks Sdn Bhd, a special purpose vehicle set up in 1995. The company was then made the PORR concessionaire, before the project was shelved by the federal government.

When queried by the media, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he wanted to know the federal government’s commitment in dollars and cents. He insisted that he did not want to keep a closed mind on the matter before he got the details.

"Any project that can reduce traffic congestion and bring economic growth and revenue to Penang is important," he said.

Indeed, there are many issues that people would like to understand about the new PORR. The earthworks that would need to be done; the hills that would need to be cut; the urban houses and roads that would come across its path.

But the project would not just reignite environmental and social concerns – much of which were backed by the DAP when it was in opposition – but also questions of transparency as well. People would like to know how the company that was awarded the project was chosen and what its track record has been for such ventures.

Judging by the immense opposition to the project a few years back, including from residents of Gurney Drive, the government can expect to have its plate more than full if the PORR goes through. Lim, who was highly critical of the federal authorities when the project was put off last year, has assured that there would be public consultation. But the details need to be fleshed out first.

If the project goes through in its current reported mould, the reclamation of the famous Gurney Drive seafront boulevard would be sealed. It would have a tremendous impact on the landscape and lives of the islanders for years to come.

There have been calls to explore other sustainable alternatives to solve Penang’s traffic problem. Fed up with rampant construction that has marred huge chunks of the island’s hills, many wonder if having highways snaking through sensitive areas in a cramped island is the only solution available.

Indeed the PORR drama that is about to unfold will be a test of how the DAP-led state administration handles public sentiments and feedback in the face of a gargantuan project initiated – and funded – by the machinery of the Barisan Nasional federal government.

After a lull, the tremors of the PORR have come back. And this time, they may shudder at our lives with fiercer intensity, for a much longer time to come.

Himanshu is theSun’s Penang bureau chief. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com