Penang govt submits EIA report on South Reclamation Scheme

Published by The Sun Daily • 04/05/2017 • 08:10 pm

Penang Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow.

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has submitted the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) on the South Reclamation Scheme to the Department of Environment (DOE) for review.

State Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said it was submitted at the end of April.

He said the EIA for the scheme was required to fulfil the conditions required by the National Physical Planning Council.

He said the next step now was for the DOE to organise public hearings and hold public exhibitions on the matter and said he expected this to happen sometime in the next three months.

“It is now the responsibility of the DOE to hold the public hearings,” he said when asked about the matter at a press conference today.

The proposed plan to reclaim three islands, a 930ha plot, a 485ha plot and a 323ha plot, off the south coast of Penang island is to fund the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).

SRS Consortium has been appointed the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) for the PTMP which proposes highways, light rail transit (LRT) systems and other public transportation options.

On the DEA for the LRT and the Pan Island Link (PIL), Chow said he expected the documents to be submitted this month or the next.

On the three highways project by Zenith Consortium Sdn Bhd, Chow said the DEA has been submitted to the DOE for approval.

“We are now waiting for the approval from the DOE,” he said of the 12km Tanjung Bunga to Teluk Bahang paired-road, a 4.6km bypass between Air Itam and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway and a 4.2km highway between Gurney Drive and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.

Chow, who is also the Penang DAP chairman, was speaking after leading a DAP delegation on a visit to the Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce.