Penang reaffirms decision to halt reclamation for Penang Silicon Island project

The Penang government has reiterated that it will not proceed with reclamation works for Island B and Island C of the Penang South Islands (PSI) reclamation project, says its infrastructure committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari. – NSTP pic

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has reiterated that it will not proceed with reclamation works for Island B and Island C of the Penang South Islands (PSI) reclamation project.

State Infrastructure Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said this was despite the valid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approvals for both islands.

He explained that the EIA approvals for all three islands were submitted individually although applied together.

“Taking advice from the federal government, particularly the prime minister, we will only proceed with reclamation for one island, now known as the Penang Silicon Island.

“There are no plans to pursue reclamation for the other two islands. That is the state’s stance,” he told the state legislative assembly sitting here today.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Goh Choon Aik (PKR – Bukit Tambun) on the EIA approval for the Penang Silicon Island project.

Goh had asked if there were any plans to pursue with reclamation for Island B and Island C.

It was reported in May last year that Penang would do away with two of three islands of the Penang South Islands reclamation project.

This meant a scaling down of 49 per cent of the total three man-made islands project.

Island A, now known as Silicon Island, measures about 920ha while islands B and C, about 560ha and 320ha respectively.

During a visit to Penang by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim then, he had announced that the federal government would allocate additional allocation to help the state government expedite the proposed George Town- Bayan Lepas light rail transit (LRT) project.

Anwar had asked the state government to scale down the reclamation project.

Meanwhile, Zairil said through the Penang Silicon Island project, Penang is expected to generate a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) impact of RM1.1 trillion, attracting a total investment of RM74.7 billion and creating 220,000 job opportunities.

“The Penang Silicon Island project is a reclamation project owned by the state government.

“This is the first time the state government developed a direct reclamation project for the purpose of guaranteeing the long-term economic growth of Penang.

“The Penang Silicon Island’s land area of 2,300 acres (930.78ha) is fully owned by the Penang government. As the owner of the project, the state government has the right to determine the land use that is being reclaimed.