KOTA KINABALU, Sept 23 — The government is looking at reviving an old proposal to link Sabah and Labuan via a bridge through a privately financed initiative, Datuk Rozman Isli said.

The Labuan MP said the representatives from the Federal Territories Ministry and the Economic Affairs Ministry met with Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal and him to reach an agreement on the matter.

"They are planning to open the request for proposal before the end of the year, so we are really hoping there will be an investors group who take up and invest in the bridge.

"The logical one, mentioned many times by our federal ministers, is probably a combination of land swap and concession to collect tolls,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after a meeting with the chief minister at the latter’s office here today.

Rozman said he proposed that toll charges be very low so as to cater to the local community and not just industry players and the wealthy.

"It should be less than RM10 toll and only charged one way. After all, that’s what they charge in Penang — RM7,” he said.

Rozman said that once the bridge becomes reality, the federal territory should flourish in several sectors — tourism, and other business sectors — owing to the improved connectivity.

"All other industries will have the potential to grow fast, namely tourism. Labuan as a logistics centre, a port city, a halal hub, and we are also potentially develop into fishery centre,” he said.

Currently, vehicles travelling to the island must take a ferry through Menumbok, some two hours from the city. Ferries are often full, especially during the weekends and festive seasons even with additional trips.

"Now, traffic is so much higher now than before, due to the high cost of flights between Kota Kinabalu to Labuan. Those days we had only one ferry, now we have four, and coming to be five soon,” he said, adding that the cheapest flight is RM198 one-way.

It costs about RM40 per vehicle via the ferry.

"It's sometimes cheaper for us to fly to KL than to KK; cheaper to fly from Tawau to KK than to Labuan, even though its only 15 minutes in the air,” he said.

The bridge is expected to be about 15km long and would enable motorists to cross the Menumbuk channel within 20 minutes.

The idea of the bridge was mooted in the 90s but was rejected due to its high cost.

A feasibility study conducted last year estimated the cost at around RM5 billion, which the new government said was too high at a time when it needed to be prudent in its spending.