MB backs Sultan’s call to revive bridge project

JOHOR BARU: The call by the Sultan of Johor for the revival of the bridge project to replace the Johor Causeway reflects what the people want, said Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.

Abdul Ghani said there were many advantages of building the bridge and the state supported the call.

“Building the bridge can help optimise the use of the Customs, Immigration

and Quarantine (CIQ) complex in Bukit Chagar,” he said after attending an event with orphans from Aceh here yesterday.

Abdul Ghani said the bridge could also make possible the flow of ships from the East to the West of the Straits of Johor.

“This is what the state wants and we will definitely forward our views to the Prime Minister,” he said.

In 2006, then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had scrapped plans to build a crooked “scenic bridge” to replace the 80-year-old causeway.

The project was the brainchild of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Due to the cancellation of the project, the Government had to fork out hundreds of millions of ringgit for compensation and to build an alternative route to the CIQ in Bukit Chagar.

In Kepala Batas, Abdullah said it was up to the Government whether to revive plans to build the bridge.

“This is a major project. The Government knows what to do,” he told reporters after opening the Kepala Batas Puteri Umno meeting here yesterday.