GEORGE TOWN: Development on hills above 76m, whether approved or unapproved, will be referred to the state planning committee, chaired by Lim Guan Eng.

The Chief Minister said these projects, including those approved as “special projects” by the previous administration, should be referred to the committee, which comprises several state executive councillors.

“At least let us be aware of all projects – even those above 76m. I don’t want to only know about it from the newspapers,” he said to reporters in Komtar yesterday.

“I, as the head of the state government, and state Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow do not want to be the last to know. At the same time, we can explore other remedies to prevent projects above 76m from starting.”

Lim also met Sungai Ara residents who have protested over two hillside development projects. He said these were approved on Sept 13, 1996, by the previous state government as a “special project”.

“Following this discovery, we’ve decided that such projects should be referred to the planning committee.

“When this project was reported in the press, it shocked me that this was happening. I thought there must have been a system failure that failed to detect the projects above 76m.

“I contacted Penang Municipal Council president Patahiyah Ismail and she told me that they followed the procedures and passed the requirements as it was taken out of the category as a ‘special project’, and approved by the previous state government,” he said.

Lim said the current state government was unhappy that the 76m limit had been breached because of previous approvals, adding that the details of 31 such projects by the previous state government would be released.

Source: The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Lim Guan Eng has defended the Penang Government’s stand in treating hillslope development, saying that it has the “most stringent” guidelines for it.

The Penang Chief Minister said the present state government had not approved a single project above 250 feet (76m) high, adding that it was the only state in Malaysia which had set such a bar.

“Penang has the most stringent guidelines for hillslope safety development in the country, crafted by Oxford-trained geotechnical engineer Prof Dr Gue See Sew, a former international chairman of the coordinating committee of Apec Engineers and president of the Institute of Engineers Malaysia,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He said that half of the 38 hillslope projects approved the last two years for heights below 76m were for open space and green areas without any building structures.

Lim took a swipe at some other states, which he said allowed development on hills above the height of 76m.

“Thirty-one development projects were approved by the previous Barisan Nasional state government on hill land above 250 feet (76m) compared to none by the present Pakatan Rakyat state government,” he added.

He said according to the Penang Municipal Council, eight projects on hills above 76m were approved from 1985 to 2004, three in 2005, 10 in 2006, eight in 2007 and two between January and March 2008.

The chief minister also addressed the issue of the rise in property prices, saying that there was also a similar rise in Johor and Kuala Lumpur.

The Star had reported on Penang’s various hillslope projects and the rise in property prices in the state.

A non-governmental organisation (NGO) here has called on the state government to practise sustainable development.

Citizens Awareness Chant group adviser Yan Lee said hillslope developments would effect environmentally sensitive water catchment areas like Sungai Ara.

“Such developments require proper studies and environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports. Some projects do not require an EIA because of the development size but nonetheless, one should be done if the projects threaten the environment,” he said.

Lee said the Federal Government, through the relevant ministry, had the discretion to request an EIA in such a situation, expressing hope that such discretion would be exercised in hillslope developments here.

“A crematorium project about 1km away from the Ayer Itam Dam recently received planning permission from the Penang Municipal Council. This is an example of where the EIA report is needed, though not required.”

Source: The Star

GEORGE TOWN: The scarcity of land on Penang island and its lure as a tourist destination and a second home for foreign retirees have caused residential property prices to soar by more than 25% over the past five years.

According to real estate valuers, the prices are among the highest in Malaysia, which is why the Consumers Association of Penang claimed that only the rich could live on the island a world heritage city.

A survey by The Star revealed that condominium units in Batu Ferringhi, Tanjung Bungah and Gurney Drive which front the sea are being sold at astronomical prices, in some cases beginning with RM2mil for a 1,000 sq ft unit.

Even pre-war houses in the inner city for example, in Campbell Street have been snapped up mostly by non-Penangites, who have turned them into boutique hotels or simply kept them because of their architectural beauty.

The prices of the houses have rocketed from about RM500,000 in 2007 to approximately RM800,000 today an increase of about 30%.

Raine & Horne Malaysia director Michael Geh said the increase was among the steepest in the Pulau Tikus, Gurney Drive, Tanjung Tokong, and Tanjung Bungah residential neighbourhoods, which experienced a rise of over 25% in prices of condominium units.

Other areas where prices of condominium units and terrace and semi-detached houses have shot up by at least 25% are Bayan Baru, Sungai Ara, Minden Heights and Batu Maung.

The medium-range housing schemes in George Town neighbourhoods of Perak Road, MacCallum Street, Burmah Road, Jelutong Road and Sungai Pinang have not been spared.

“These have seen over a 25% increase in prices over the past five years,” Geh said.

An apartment located in such a neighbourhood cost RM180,000 in 2007 but is now RM250,000,

Geh said the rise in property prices had driven many people to buy homes in Seberang Prai, where property prices are a third of those on the island.

“But we are seeing property prices on the mainland rising as well,” he added.

An apartment in Butterworth town is now selling for RM250,000, compared to RM180,000 five years ago, while a terrace house now costs RM500,000, compared to RM300,000 in 2007.

Given the rise of raw materials prices and the scarcity of land, property prices in Penang were expected to continue rising, Geh added.

Meanwhile, Penang Barisan Nasional chairman Teng Chang Yeow said there were only one or two major hillslope projects during the previous administration. Now, there were hillslope projects all over the island.

He said the present guidelines on hillslope development were adequate, but the state government should be more stringent in enforcing them.

Source: The Star

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) approved applications for hillslope developments on 38 lots on the island in the last two years, MPPP president Patahiyah Ismail said.

She added that applications on 17 lots were rejected during the same period.

Patahiyah refused to disclose where the developments were located, as some cases involved legal issues and were pending in court.

She said that in approving the applications, the council referred to a hillslope development safety guide drawn up by Oxford-trained Prof Dr Gue See Sew, a former international chairman of the coordinating committee of Apec Engineers and president of the Institute of Engineers Malaysia.

“We are considering making the slope development approvals more transparent by putting them on a website,” Patahiyah told a press conference here yesterday.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was present, stressed that the state government had not approved any development on contours above 76m-high, except for green areas like a park.

He said he was referring to developments above 76m when he said on April 20 that hillslope projects in the state were either approved or undertaken by the previous state administration.

“Of course we have approved development on slopes, but a hill by definition must be land higher than 76m,” he said.

At an earlier event yesterday, Patahiyah said she had barred MPPP councillor Dr Lim Mah Hui (who previously said that the state government had influenced the approval of a hillslope development in Sungai Ara) from issuing statements on hillslope developments because it could besub judice.

Source: The Star

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Municipal Council should revise its guidelines on hillslope development and land usage, said Tanjung Bungah residents association member Datuk Dr Leong Yueh Kwong.

This was in view of the many landslides on the island lately, he said.

“Until the guidelines are revised, there should be a temporary halt on all hillslope projects,” said Dr Leong, the former director of the Socio-Economic & Environmental Research Institut, now known as Penang Institute.

He said the guidelines on land use should also be reviewed.

“There are many development projects in the north-east district covering areas like Paya Terubong, Air Itam, and Tanjung Bungah, which cause daily traffic congestion.

“Very soon, we will reach a point where it will not be possible to travel to Batu Ferringhi because it will take too long to get there.”

Dr Leong said it was not true that Penang did not have sufficient land.

“It’s just that some of the land is not in the location that they want. It is in Balik Pulau and Seberang Prai.”

Pantai Jerejak Barisan Nasional coordinator and Penang Gerakan vice-chairman Wong Mun Hoe said the type of development supported by the state was worrying.

“It reflects a lack of planning. There’s an uneven spread of construction projects on the island.”

Meanwhile, the developer of a hillslope project in Bukit Gambier, near the Universiti Sains Malaysia campus, has defended the project.

Nadayu Properties Bhd executive chairman Hamidon Abdullah said that even though the company owned 3.57ha of land, it was using only about 1.3ha.

“We identified the 76.2m line on the slope and no development will take place beyond the stipulated height. Some 1.87ha of land will be a green park.

“The project (Nadayu 290) is our first development project in Penang. We know the safety of the hillslope project,” he said.

Source: The Star