Penang approves 2030 structure plan, including 3-islands project

Diterbitkan oleh Free Malaysia Today (FMT) • 11/12/2019

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (second from left) with Penang Plan Malaysia acting director Mohd Bashir Sulaiman (second from right). With them are state secretary Abdul Razak Jaafar (right) and state executive councillor Jagdeep Singh Deo (left).

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow today announced the approval of the 2030 Penang Structure Plan (RSN), which outlines development strategies and policies for the state from 2020 to 2030.

Chow said the RSN, which had taken into account public views and objections over the past year, was now legally binding. He said the RSN was gazetted on Oct 24, after the state executive council had approved it.

The RSN includes the Penang South Islands project and reclamation projects in Seri Tanjung Pinang, Gurney Drive and the Queensbay area.

At a press conference here, Chow said the RSN could be reviewed every five years to take into account market demands and other factors.

He said local plans —which dictate what can or cannot be built in a particular area — would be ready next year.

At the same press conference, state Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said there would be two local plans (RT) — one for Penang Island and the other for Seberang Perai.

He said the RT for Seberang Perai was expected to be rolled out by June 2020 while the island plan would be out by Dec 2020.

Asked why the RTs had been delayed, Chow said the plans typically followed the RSN as it was the main development master plan.

He said since a new RSN was being released, all local plans must follow strategies laid out under this RSN.

Asked if Penang had ever had a local plan, Chow replied in the negative, saying it never had one in place. “There has never been a local plan,” he said.

On a proposal by a private developer to reclaim an island near Batu Ferringhi, he said there was no final word yet and it remained a proposal.

The RSN is the result of a federal law which requires all states to come up with a structure plan which would essentially lay out the spatial plans for the state.

It outlines the development plans for the state over the next 10 years and, among other things, will affect density and where homes can be built.

It can be reviewed once every five years. The last RSN was gazetted on June 28, 2007 and is still in use today.