Scaled down by nearly half

Published by TheStar • 12/5/2023

GEORGE TOWN: Minimising social impact is one of the reasons why the Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (LRT) depot has to be built within the Penang South Islands (PSI) project, says Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

He said building the LRT depot on the main island would have resulted in the displacement of local communities from three villages, schools and several places of worship in Bayan Lepas.

“It is not easy for us to find a 60-acre (24.28ha) piece of land on Penang island to build the end-line depot for the LRT.

“Taking up the land near Penang International Airport would involve land acquisition as there are schools, villages and places of worship. We do not want such a large impact there.

“This is why the depot has to be built on the reclaimed island,” he told a press conference at his office in Komtar yesterday.

Earlier, Chow said they would scale down the PSI project by 49%, with Island B (566ha) and Island C (324ha) shelved indefinitely.

He said Island A (930ha), to be known as Silicon Island, would be reclaimed in two phases and would take between 10 and 15 years while the first phase measuring 526ha would take seven to 10 years to be completed, with the LRT depot to be built there.

He added that the second phase would add another 404ha of land to the island.

“This means that from the initial 4,500 acres (1,820ha) comprising three man-made islands, it will now be only 2,300 acres (930ha) of reclamation.

In the works: An artist rendering of the PSI project which has been scaled down upon the Prime Minister’s advice, according to Chow during a press conference at Komtar in George Town. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star

“Only 115 fishermen are affected by the project, as opposed to the 496 fishermen if the three islands were built. These are the fishermen (at Permatang Tepi Laut), right at the front of the reclamation project,” he said.

Chow said the state had gone through several years of preparation up to the stage of calling for the tender for the LRT project.

“The state is ready to present its report. We hope that representatives from the state government will be involved in the technical discussions so that we can highlight what we have done so far,” he said, adding that the Finance Ministry and Transport Ministry had called for a meeting to discuss the project.

Chow said the decision to scale down was made on the advice of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

On whether a new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval was needed, Chow said there was no need as the previous EIA covered all three islands.

Besides remaining as the site for the LRT depot, Silicon Island will also be home to a “Green Tech Park” and “Heart of the Island” which will be the economic catalyst and new tourism attraction for the state, he added.

“The development of Silicon Island including topside development will take about 20 years,” adding that the state would not finance the cost of the reclamation and infrastructure.

He said SRS Consortium, which is the project’s delivery partner, would be involved in providing infrastructure and amenities such as roads, drainage, 5G connectivity and water supply.

SRS Consortium project director Szeto Wai Loong said the model for Silicon Island was to create land parcels that will be auctioned off.

“The cost for reclaiming the island is about RM6bil while the cost of building common infrastructure and amenities on the island will be about RM2.5bil.

“We will be the master developer to ensure compliance. The successful bidder will develop the land parcels. The responsibility to build would be on them.

“The state and SRS Consortium will not be involved in the topside development of the reclaimed land.”

Meanwhile, Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman said fishermen who were facing issues in getting their fuel subsidy and cost of living allowance could come forward to the Pusat Perkhidmatan Setempat Nelayan in Permatang Damar Laut, Sungai Batu and Gertak Sanggul.