Universiti Sains Malaysia today claimed that there were external forces attempting to cancel the public discussion programme on the Pan Island Link (PIL1) project, organised by civil society group coalition Penang Forum in George Town today.

USM Centre for Policy Research and International Studies director Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Farouk said the university did not have any problem with the programme or the organisers.

However, he admitted that USM was pressured by external forces to call off the public discussion programme on the controversial RM8 billion PIL1 project.

“In fact, we (USM) do not have any problem with the organisers nor the topic of discussion, as we feel this is the platform for the public to discuss on the current issues,” he told reporters after the public discussion on PIL 1 project here today.

Azeem Fazwan. however, refused to elaborate further on the "external forces" who he claimed had ordered the university to call off the programme.

Meanwhile, Penang Forum member Khoo Salma Nasution said the group had initially planned two public discussion programmes on PIL 1 at two institutions of higher learning this week.

“However, due to unforeseen forces, we have to cancel one of our scheduled public discussion this Friday at a college here,” she said.

Khoo Salma also claimed that the college justified its decision by saying that the topic of discussion was not in line with the government's policy.

Penang Forum has been holding various public discussions and dialogue sessions on the proposed PIL 1 highway project which will be implemented under the first phase of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).

PTMP is a state-initiated project costing an estimated RM46 billion and features an undersea tunnel linking the island to the mainland, highways, LRT, monorail as well as extensive bus connectivity on both the island and the mainland.

- Bernama