Ex-state secretary helms Penang firm handling RM46 bil transportation projects

Former Penang state secretary Farizan Darus has been made Penang Infrastructure Corporation Sdn Bhd CEO.

GEORGE TOWN: Just eight months into retirement, former Penang state secretary Farizan Darus has been roped in to be CEO of a new state company in charge of Penang’s RM46 billion transportation projects.

In announcing his appointment, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said Farizan was more than competent and experienced to helm the Penang Infrastructure Corporation (PIC) Sdn Bhd.

“We are confident that Farizan’s appointment will spur the Penang Transport Master Plan into fruition and to gain greater heights,” Chow said at a press conference today.

Thanking the chief minister for appointing him, Farizan said he moved into his 56th floor office in Komtar and began working three days ago.

“It is a heavy responsibility. Part of my work is to ensure all the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) projects under the SRS Consortium and Zenith go on well,” he said.

Farizan, 61, had been a federal civil servant for the past 35 years before retiring on November 7 last year. He had also served various district offices in Penang for 26 years before assuming the role of state secretary in 2011.

SRS Consortium is the project delivery partner for the three islands, LRT and roads project, while Zenith is to build an undersea tunnel and three bypasses as part of the PTMP.

The PIC was incorporated on July 9 as a special purpose vehicle to award projects related to the RM46 billion PTMP.

The company will be in charge of planning and developing the three-islands project or Penang South Reclamation (PSR) once the islands are created.

Additionally, the company will be in charge of financing matters related to the PSR. Chow, state secretary Abdul Razak Jaafar and state Public Works Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari are the company’s board members.

Separately, the Consul-General of Japan in Penang, Shinichiro Kanoya, urged local NGOs to tap into the Japanese government’s “Kusanone” grant which gives up to RM330,000 to fund construction-related work.

He said the grant was intended to help with human security-related projects such as healthcare, welfare, education and environment matters.

To date, RM17.7 million has been disbursed by the Japanese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur since the programme began in 1989, Kanoya said.