Penang hill cable car project fully funded by private sector
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Hill cable car project will be fully financed and developed by a private concessionaire, with no cost to the state government, the Penang Hill Corporation (PHC) said today.
In a statement, the state agency said the RM245 million project was awarded to local rail firm Hartasuma Sdn Bhd under a 30-year public-private partnership (PPP) using a design-finance-build-operate-transfer (DFBOT) model.
Ownership will revert to the state once the concession ends, it noted.
PHC said the PPP approach was chosen to ease the financial burden on the state, with Hartasuma responsible for funding and operating the system. Austrian ropeway specialist Doppelmayr Seilbahnen GmbH has been tapped to supply the cable car technology.
The clarification comes amid local media reports citing political concerns over the project's rising costs and current progress, with construction currently at just seven per cent completion.
PHC said the budget was based on estimates from a 2021 request-for-proposal (RFP), during a period marked by COVID-19-related economic uncertainty, inflation, as well as higher labour and material costs. The project design was also adjusted to strengthen long-term viability.
Despite the challenges, PHC said Hartasuma remains committed to delivering an international-standard cable car system spanning 2.73 kilometres from the Penang Botanic Gardens to the top of Bukit Bendera.
The project includes three main stations namely, the Garden Station at the base, a mid-route Turn Station and the Hill Station at the summit, as well as a multi-storey car park, commercial plaza opposite the Botanic Gardens Department and a dedicated bus parking space.
PHC said careful planning was underway to ensure the infrastructure integrates sustainably with the natural environment. Once completed, the cable car is also expected to ease congestion on Penang Hill during peak seasons and reduce chronic traffic around the Botanic Gardens area.
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The Star
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Curious Cook: Planetary insolvency
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Impacts of planetary insolvency Planetary insolvency is framed as a systemic failure to maintain Earth's life-support systems. This is akin to a business going bankrupt. The report describes catastrophic impacts such as: • Economic devastation: Global GDP contraction exceeding 25%, dwarfing losses seen during the Great Depression. • Unimaginable human toll: Potentially over two billion deaths due to heatwaves, disease, famine, and conflict. • Climate tipping points: Global warming beyond 2°C, triggering cascading collapses like Amazon dieback and/or Arctic ice loss. • Ecological unravelling: Critical ecosystems – coral reefs, pollinators, freshwater sources – collapse, alongside mass extinctions. • Societal breakdown: Mass migration of billions of people, political fragmentation, and the loss of low-lying lands to rising seas. 'This is a national security issue,' the IFA report stressed firmly, as food shortages, clean water scarcity, un-survivable heatwaves, severe hurricanes, lethal droughts, and catastrophic floods destabilise nations and ignite conflicts. The risk matrix As someone who worked in risk management for decades, the subtitle of the report was what originally caught my attention. It was 'Global Risk Management for Human Prosperity' and like all high-level risk reports, it contained a matrix of the assessed global risks. Pollinator decline threatens 75% of food crops and could unravel food systems within decades. — THANGPU PAITE/Pexels The risk matrix outlined is harrowing, as it indicated that climate and biodiversity crises are interconnected amplifiers of disaster. A summary of the risks identified by the IFA are: 1. Economic freefall: A 25% GDP loss would cripple global trade, erase pensions, and collapse industries. As a comparison, Covid-19 caused a 3.5% GDP drop in 2020. The triggers? Supply chain disruptions from extreme weather, agricultural failures, and mass displacement. 2. Mortality crisis: Heat stress alone could claim millions of lives annually by 2050. Combined with malnutrition, waterborne diseases, and conflict, death tolls could surpass two billion, roughly a quarter of humanity. Recent heatwaves in India (2023) and Europe (2024), which killed thousands, are likely to be previews of what may be coming. The strain on national healthcare and medical systems will be without precedent. 3. Tipping points of no return: Crossing 2°C warming risks activating feedback loops, such as permafrost thaw releasing methane or Amazon deforestation turning the rainforest into a savannah. Once triggered, these processes cannot be stopped. 4. Ecosystem collapse: coral reefs, which support 25% of marine life, are nearing extinction. Pollinator decline threatens 75% of food crops. The report warns that losing these 'ecosystem services' could unravel food systems within decades. 5. Migration time bomb: By 2040, over one billion people in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa may face lethal heat conditions. Mass migrations, which are already visible in Central America's 'dry corridor' and drought/conflict stricken African nations, will strain borders and ignite horrendous xenophobia. Current approaches are failing The report reflects on the current steps taken by various nations, and established that existing market-led solutions like carbon trading and corporate sustainability pledges are wholly insufficient. Voluntary measures have failed to curb emissions (which hit record highs in 2024) or halt deforestation (over 10 million hectares lost annually). National policies remain fragmented or incoherent. The EU's Green Deal is probably the most significant initiative, but it lacks binding global coordination. 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This mirrors the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) but with enforcement powers. 3. Systemic risk officers: Appointing officers at all governance levels from local to global to integrate risk management and share risk mitigation strategies. For example, cities like Miami and Jakarta, battling sea-level rise, could develop tailored resilience plans and the expertise shared with other cities. 4. National transition plans: Binding laws to phase out fossil fuels, restore ecosystems, and transition to circular economies. Costa Rica's reforestation success (doubling forest cover since 1980) and Denmark's wind energy strategy (50% of electricity) prove such models work. Crossing 2°C warming risks could turn the Amazon rainforest into a savannah. — TOM FISK/Pexels 5. Accountability mechanisms: Public dashboards tracking progress on emissions, biodiversity, and adaptation. 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Unequal crisis Compounding and confusing the issue is how the impacts of planetary insolvency are unequally distributed. Poorer countries face disproportionately larger risks despite them contributing least to emissions. For example: • South Asia: By 2050, wet-bulb temperatures (heat plus humidity) are expected to regularly exceed 35°C – the limit for human survival – for 300 million people. Extreme weather events such as droughts or floods also threaten farming outputs. • Africa: Droughts could shrink crop yields by 20%, exacerbating famine in large regions of the continent. Desertification and erosion of large areas of farmland, such as what has happened in southern Madagascar, mean that such land becomes permanently unavailable for agriculture. • South America: Changes in weather patterns risk turning the vast forests of the Amazon into savannah grasslands, turning the area from carbon sinks to carbon emitters. • Small island states: Nations like Tuvalu and the Maldives confront existential threats from sea-level rises. Yet wealthier nations are not immune. The 2021 Pacific Northwest heatwave killed 1,400 people in North America, while Europe's 2022 drought caused US$20bil (RM88bil) in agricultural losses. The recent fires in California have incurred losses of over US$150bil (RM660bil), according to the latest statistics. That is on top of an estimated US$500bil (RM2.2 trillion) of damage/losses in 2024 due to hurricanes in the US alone. 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It suggested the 2025 UN Summit for the Future offers a pivotal moment to adopt their recommendations. As the UN Secretary-General said, 'We are the first generation to feel climate chaos and the last who can stop it. The choice is between collective action or collective suicide.' In summary, the IFA believes the time for half-measures is over. Avoiding planetary insolvency demands nothing less than a reimagining of global and national governance immediately, before our planet goes bust. And this is now a risk factor which we will all feel sooner or later in our insurance premiums. The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.
The Star
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Ultimately, Jetstar Asia's withdrawal from Singapore will shrink the choices available to consumers, particularly those eyeing the non-stop links it served exclusively. But its limited market share means that the impact on Changi's standing as a hub will likely be minimal. - The Straits Times/ANN
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5 hours ago
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‘Impact of Petronas layoffs could be significant'
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