TRANSIT also took note of this article in the news from up in Penang.
Penang Port to hand over ferry ops to govt
5 June 2009
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) is expected to hand over its loss-making ferry operations to the Federal Government.Penang Port Commission chairman Tan Cheng Liang said yesterday PPSB had incurred huge losses since it took over the ferry services from the PPC in 1994.
“Plans are afoot to work out an exit for PPSB.”
On the ferry’s fare adjustment, she did not rule out the possibility of raising the fare for passengers and vehicles to reduce the port’s financial difficulty.
Tan said the problem would take time to be ironed out as the commission was under the Transport Ministry, while PPSB was under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry.
She said PPSB, a privatised entity, had signed a 30-year concession agreement with PPC in 1994 to operate the ferry and Penang Port, thus, there were legal aspects to be addressed.
TRANSIT Says:
Oh, how typical. A private company gets a sweetheart deal, involved in public transport, realizes they cannot make it work, and offloads the service to the government. Probably for another sweetheart deal.
So far we have seen government takeovers of:
- STAR
- PUTRA
- Intrakota
- CityLiner
- KL Monorail
and now PPSB – Penang Ferry ….
Next up: KTMB?
Transit Malaysia 