Penang South Islands project scaled down to one island – Silicon Island
The Penang government has decided to scale down the Penang South Islands (PSI) project, from the proposed three islands to only one island.
The PSI project has received the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval from the Department of Environment (DoE) with 71 conditions. The approved EIA was for the entire PSI project involving the reclamation of three islands – Islands A, B and C.
The tri-islands (Islands A, B and C) will be located at the south end of Penang island, measuring a total of 4,500 acres in land size. Island A will be 2,300 acres in size, Island B 1,400 acres and Island C 800 acres.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, in a media conference today, shared that the PSI project would be scaled down to only one island – Island A, which is named recently as Silicon Island.
Islands B and C will not be implemented.
“This is following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement on May 6 that the Federal Government will provide additional funds to assist the Penang government in expediting the construction of the George Town-Bayan Lepas light rail transit (LRT) project, considering the concerns of various parties regarding the proposed development of Silicon Island under the Penang South Islands (PSI) project.
“The Prime Minister has requested the state to review and reduce the scope of the PSI project. The state government has made several approaches in response to the request,” Chow told a media conference in Komtar this morning.
Chow said that with the announcement, the PSI project would be reduced by 49%.
“The sole island for the PSI project, Silicon Island, will be implemented in two phases, with a total period of 10 to 15 years of reclamation works.
“The first phase of the implementation, about 1,300 acres in size, will include the LRT depot which is expected to take approximately seven to 10 years to complete. The first phase of PSI will hardly have any effect on fishermen who go out to sea.
“The second phase of Silicon Island will involve the reclamation of 1,000 acres,” he said.
Impact of scaling down the PSI project
Chow said, according to the master agreement, the Penang government and SRS Consortium had agreed to sign separate agreements to implement various components of the PSI project.
“And so far, only the agreement involving Island A (Silicon Island) has been signed. So, the Penang government does not need to compensate SRS Consortium for scaling down the PSI project to just one island.
“Secondly, the approved EIA for the PSI project is also not affected by the scaling down of the PSI project,” Chow said.
SRS Consortium project director Szeto Wai Loong said the expected reclamation cost of Silicon Island was RM6 billion; while the estimated cost for common infrastructure was RM2.5 billion.
“We create late parcels to be auctioned to the highest bidder and the successful bidder will develop their land parcels. We are not the end developer for this.
“We (SRS Consortium) and the state’s Penang Infrastructure Corporation (PIC) are the master developers. We make sure the other developers (successful bidders) comply with what has been approved in the Silicon Island master plan,” he explained the model for Silicon Island.
Chow explained further, stating that the state government and SRS Consortium would not be involved in the topside development of the to-be-reclaimed Silicon Island.
“Our responsibility is to reclaim and prepare the island with facilities, enabling it to function. Examples of facilities are roads, 5G telecommunication networks, irrigation and drainage system, water supply, the promenade, and others.
“We will also control the land use and zonings on Silicon Island. Meanwhile, successful bidders complying with the requirements will be developing the land on Silicon Island.
“For example, a successful corporation may invest in a piece of land on Silicon Island, builds a factory, and creates 3,000 job opportunities for Penangites. That could be the return (investments and job opportunities) we get from Silicon Island,” he said.
Chow said, at this point, the Penang government would not be involved in financing the cost of reclamation and common infrastructure of Silicon Island.
Meanwhile, with the scaling down of the PSI, fewer fishermen would be affected.
“There will only be 115 fishermen from Permatang Tepi Laut unit (facing the Silicon Island reclamation site) who will be directly involved; as compared to 496 fishermen (from four fishermen units) previously when all three islands were to be developed,” Chow said.
Source: Buletin Mutiara
Three become one ? Yet there is an anti-establishment group objecting vehemently !
Scrap the other 2 islands?? Does that mean that those who were objecting this reclamation were right about the negative impact all this while???
Disagree with your statement. Scaled-down does not mean the objection/protest is right about environmental impact. Since the Federal Gov had agreed to support funding the LRT project, the state gov can be scaled down as not required to rely heavily on all the 3 island revenue to fund the LRT anymore. If Penang State Gov really heartless, they can continue to bulldoze through the project and continue 3 island reclamation since EIA had already approved it anyway.
Its a win for the people of Penang to have this new infrastructure projects, especially the LRT. Shrinking from 3 islands to just Silicon Island, i guess this is the middle ground decisions to trade-off on the financing/budget and Penang’s Vision 2030. Federal do not need to spend so much, Penang do not need to take on huge debt and yet still a step closer to the Vision 2030.
Key is implementing the idea, operating it and sustaining it for generations to come. That is the challenge.
Scrapping especially the 2nd island, teluk kumbar in future don’t complain jam ya. Enjoy your single narrow 1 road that cannot further expand anymore.
Don’t ask why your property cannot profit.
Fully agree with your opinion, development is always a trade-off, and reaching the middle ground will allow the project to kick off and this will be a win-win situation for the people of Penang.
good good now government no need to waste money to compensate those loud fisherfolk. they can continue as fishermen for eternity and kampong folks get to keep their sleepy villages, win win for all..
Can reduce to 1 island now? Planning memang kelam kabut, just very good at request-for-proposals state gov
my only concern is the PSR was a funding model not only for LRT, but also for the entire PTMP, which recently included island – mainland lrt as well… amd many more component.
will the single island help fund the other components of the PTMP?
of course the latest approval and changes is something very positive,
guess we go one at a time…. optimistic….
and happy PM is involved now and there would be no marginalization to Penang. Trashing the double-standard by the previous many groups…..
@Goppal
not so optimistic, look like the full PTMP package will be delayed again or forever, Penangite can look forward to many more years of traffic jam. I reckon Penang has missed the rare window of opportunity when the federal and state is on same page. When next election come, PAS will take over the federal government and Penang can only pray…LOL
If they can scrap 2nd & 3rd islands overnight just like that, they can also re-kickstart 2nd & 3rd islands as and when they wish. maybe throw in another 4th island too.Hahahaha…..this is what you call…..NO MORE CREDIBILITY!
Quite curious. The island planned will be reclaim near the airport. So won’t noise affect the people below? As far as I know, take off and landing creates alot of noise.
Also on the planes end, will it affect visibility of planes while landing since landing navigation is not always in auto mode (for bad weather condition).
3rd, I thought they’re proposing to upgrade the airport, is there any leeway for them to expand or only upgrading the current infrastructure of the airport?
Thanks in advance.
No need to be so excited la. Every few years they will announce the LRT project especially near election. Another Sheraton Move say bye bye to your LRT. 1 island or 10 islands, no difference. The rest of Msia will always be jealous of Penang and will make it a punching bag.