The Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) projects are at “the tail-end” of securing the necessary approvals, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said.

He said the state government has been working with SRS Consortium to finalise the master agreement for the two major components of the RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).

Once they have been approved, he said the project delivery partners can move to the next important phase of work — the design of the projects — before calling for tenders “maybe during the second month of next year” and moving on to the construction phase.

Chow was speaking at the 45th anniversary dinner of the Penang Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) here yesterday.

PIL1 is a 19.5km toll-free highway from Gurney Drive to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway near the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone IV. It consists of a 7.6km viaduct, four tunnel sections totalling 10.1km and embankment sections totalling 1.8km.

The LRT project will cover a 29.9km route from Komtar to the Penang International Airport. It will also connect to the three future reclaimed islands to the south of Penang island, estimated to cost RM8 billion. It will have 27 stations.

Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.com