Penang CM says investors welcome to register for Silicon Island tech park first, but sales after land reclaimed

Published by Malay Mail • 01/9/2023

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today that the state will only start selling the parcels of land in the technology park after the artificial island is built. ― File picture courtesy of the Penang Chief Minister’s Office

SEBERANG PERAI, Sept 1 — The parcels on land in Penang’s man-made Silicon Island will be open for investors to register their interest once reclamation begins.

But Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today that the state will only start selling the parcels of land in the technology park after the artificial island is built.

“But if there is a lot of interest when we start reclamation, they can register their interest first,” he said in a press conference after attending the official launch of xFusion’s global supply centre in Perai.

He said the Silicon Island reclamation project will be completed parcel by parcel.

Silicon Island measuring 2,300 acres, will be reclaimed in two phases involving 10 to 15 years with the first phase pictured here. — Picture courtesy of SRS Consortium

“Our focus will be on the technology park and we will sell it part by part, when it’s reclaimed,” he said.

He said there are plans to also divide the land on the island according to lots.

He said the reclamation for the whole island will take between seven to eight years to complete.

Earlier today, Chow issued a statement to announce the commencement of preliminary works for Silicon Island, previously the Penang South Islands (PSI) project.

The state government obtained the final approval for its environmental management plan (EMP) for the project on July 21.

It had earlier obtained the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval in April.

When asked why the EMP approval was not announced when it was obtained in July, Chow said at that time they don’t know if they will remain as the state government since it was also during state elections period.

“We can only announce once we know we are still the state government,” he said.

He said the state had also made a commitment to pay out at least 75 per cent of the exgratia promised to affected fishermen before the project physically commenced.

“We can’t make the payout during state elections, it would be considered corruption, so we have to wait till after the elections,” he said.

Chow said the ex-gratia payment will be banked directly to fishermen registered under the first tier, which are those directly affected by the project.

He said more than 300 fishermen are listed under the first tier.

He urged those who have yet to register to do so now, so they too will be able to receive the ex-gratia payment.

He said since approval in July, other works related to the reclamation, such as installation of buoys, silkscreen and identifying a site in Batu Maung to store the equipment have begun.

“Sand works for the reclamation will start in two to three weeks’ time,” he said.

He said sand from Perak will be brought by barge for the reclamation works.

Silicon Island was scaled down from the proposed three islands, also previously known as the Penang South Reclamation, to only one island.

Only Island A, rebranded as Silicon Island, that measured about 920ha will be reclaimed.

The Penang Fishermen’s Association and environmental groups have continuously opposed the project, citing environmental concerns that could affect the livelihood of fishermen in the area.