Lim said: “In reply to my oral question in parliament on when the RM2 billion Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) and RM1.2 billion expansion of the Mengkuang Dam projects would be implemented, Prime Minister (Datuk Seri) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said RM55.7 million had been allocated for projects and programmes in Penang.

“Abdullah said the government is aware of the importance of the expansion of the Mengkuang Dam to ensure ample water supply in the state and it would be divided into two main components and launched in phases.”

The project has been slotted under the Ninth Malaysia Plan and preliminary works including land acquisition, design, engineering and tender documents would cost RM154.4 million.

“The prime minister said in his reply that the expansion of the dam and construction of pump stations and pipes for raw water would take at least four years but would have to be completed within the 9MP.

“However, Abdullah said there were no plans now to implement PORR or the monorail,” Lim added.

Lim said the government’s failure to implement PORR and the monorail would only burden Penangites further especially after the completion of Penang’s second crossing mid-2012.