SEREMBAN: Plans for a cable car project linking Port Dickson in the mainland to Pulau Arang have been shelved.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the proposed project, which would have spanned 750m from the PD Waterfront township to Pulau Arang, had been found to be too costly.

“Our findings have shown that it is not viable,” he said.

The 2.5ha Pulau Arang is an uninhabited island. The cable car project, which was part of the RM2bil PD Waterfront project, was proposed five years ago to boost tourism in Port Dickson.

It would have been the country’s first mainland-to-island cable car project.

Mohamad said his administration would look at other ways to boost tourism in Port Dickson and its surrounding areas.

Among the high-impact projects proposed was to turn the Port Dickson-Telok Kemang-Tanjung Tuan-Linggi area into an international coastal sport and tourism destination, he added.

“We are also planning to have water taxis in Port Dickson and build an esplanade as added attractions,” he said.

On a separate matter, Mohamad said the state government was also planning to build the Negri Sembilan Inner Ring Road (NSIRR) and Seremban Outer Ring Road (SORR) to better connect towns in the state.

“The projects will be financed through the RM5bil we received from the federal government to improve road infrastructure in the state,” he said, adding that the first phase of the SORR linking Nilai-Port Dickson was already under construction.

Apart from the KLIA-PD Expressway, two highways were also being proposed for construction in the state, namely the Seremban-Serting Expressway and the Serting-Durian Tipus-Karak/Pekan Expressway, he said.

Besides helping smaller towns along the route such as Seri Menanti, Juasseh and Serting, the highways would cut travelling time between Seremban and the east coast.