Residents  in Batu Kawan, South Seberang Prai, are eagerly awaiting the completion of the RM4.5bil Second Penang Bridge, which will connect their hometown to Batu Maung on the island.

The oil palm estate, which is fast shedding its kampung image, is set to become an industrialised township, with the bridge spurring various economic activities and spillover benefits to the surrounding areas.

Local resident Tan Ah Bah, 86, said that in his younger days, he used to walk for miles, ride on horse carts and take boat and ferry rides to go places from his Pengkalan fishing village in Batu Kawan.

“About 60 years back, I remember taking 30-minute long sampan (boat) rides for dua duit (two cents) per ride to travel from Batu Kawan to Bukit Tambun and vice-versa.

“Later on, there were three types of ferry services that were introduced, which were eventually re-placed by tarred roads and small bridges in the 90s,” he said.

To get to George Town, Tan said he used to ride on a sampan from Batu Kawan to Bukit Tambun, then ride on a horse cart to Simpang Ampat before taking a bus to Bagan (now Butterworth) and later boarding a boat fuelled by coal to cross the Penang Channel to the island.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that someday a bridge connecting the island would be built from the humble Batu Kawan village here,” he said with a broad smile.

Fellow resident Chew Kean Nam, 28, said Pengkalan village had one of the country’s oldest Teochew temples in the northern region — the Ban See Ang Temple — that was built somewhere in the early 1800s.

He said the local community would be celebrating the birthday of the temple deity — Xuan Tian Shang Di — with special prayers this Friday and a grand float procession featuring 12 floats on a 7.5km-long journey in Batu Kawan town at 7pm this Saturday.

Batu Kawan estate resident P. Parvathi, 63, an ex-oil palm estate general worker, said Batu Kawan residents had long been waiting for a major transformation to take place in the area to help elevate their economic status.

“Three generations of my family have been living here and we strongly believe that the new bridge project will help create more job oppor-tunities for the locals here,” she said.

Her neighbour M. Amaravathi, 73, said she hoped the government would help build a hospital, market, recreation parks, colleges and places of worship in Batu Kawan.

Student M. Gaayathiri, 22, who is pursuing a human resources management diploma at Island College of Technology in Balik Pulau, said instead of spending more than two hours taking the ferry, she hoped to use the bridge to travel to her college from Batu Kawan.

Foodstall operator Zalina Sakan, 36, said she hoped more shopping centres would soon be built in Batu Kawan, noting that at present many locals travelled far to Bukit Mertajam, Prai, Nibong Tebal and Parit Buntar to do their shopping.

“I hope more factories will set up operations here in Batu Kawan, as the workforce will create a demand for more restaurants and eateries to open to cater to the needs of the growing population,” she said.

Zalina said she hoped the authorities would widen the road leading to the State Stadium in Batu Kawan, noting that the present single-lane road stretch was insufficient to cope with high traffic volume, especially when football matches are held at the stadium.

General worker Shakir Baharom, 55, said he expected the prices of property in the neighbourhood to double, if not triple, with the opening of the Second Penang Bridge.

“At present, a single-storey terrace house that was originally sold at RM58,000 is now going for RM120,000.

“The residents here look forward to the state government’s affordable housing scheme project that will soon be built here in Batu Kawan, but we hope priority will be given to the locals,” he said.

School canteen operator Rosidah Din, 43, said at present there were only three schools — SK Batu Kawan, SMK Batu Kawan and SJK(T) Ladang Batu Kawan — located in the town, adding that she hoped there would be more schools built in the future.

Another resident Salina Bakar, 45, said currently there were only 10 housing schemes in the area, adding that many middle-income earners there hoped more single-storey terrace housing units would be built there.

Fellow resident Murazali Allabah, 63, said he hoped the government would take special efforts to preserve Batu Kawan’s last three Malay, Chinese and Indian villages — Kam-pung Mesjid, Kampung Pengkalan and Ladang Batu Kawan — respectively.

“These three villages are culturally unique and could be used as tourism sites apart from promoting the State Stadium, Bukit Tambun seafood paradise and Pulau Aman homestay here,” he said.

Fisherman Ong Kah Ho, 63, said the bridge’s alignment had affected fish, shrimp and cockle catches in the area, but the fishermen there had found new sites to fish.

SOURCE: The Star

BANK Negara Malaysia said slightly less than half of the applicants for My First Home Scheme were unsuccessful in obtaining loans under the scheme as they failed to meet the eligibility criteria.

These applicants amounted to 505, or 47.5 per cent, of the total applications of 1,062 as at the end of January, said the central bank in a statement yesterday.
The participating banks received a total of 1,624 applications as of January, but 562 were subsequently withdrawn due to multiple applications to various banking institutions.

Bank Negara said from a total of 1,062 actual applications, 389 (36.6 per cent) have been approved by banking institutions, of which 280 have obtained guarantee from Cagamas Bhd, the national mortgage corporation, while 168 (15.8 per cent) are currently being processed by banking institutions, said Bank Negara.

My Frist Home Scheme, launched in March 2011, aims to allow young working adults to obtain 100 per cent financing from banking institutions to purchase their first home valued at a maximum of RM220,000 (for single applicants) or a maximum of RM400,000 (for joint applicants of husband and wife with household income below RM6,000 per month cumulatively).

Applications are made to participating banking institutions and upon approval Cagamas will provide a guarantee for the first 10 per cent of the loan.

The statement was issued following news reports yesterday claiming that the success of the scheme had been hampered by the unwillingness of banks to risk giving loans with monthly repayments that come up to more than half of the applicants’ salary.

In fact, a Chinese daily even reported on March 5 that not a single loan under the scheme has been approved.

Bank Negara said that to qualify, applicants should have the capacity to meet their debt obligations, provide the evidence of a sustainable income stream, good credit history and able to meet the basic eligibility criteria of the scheme.

“The intention is to ensure that young borrowers are not over burdened by debt obligations that may lead to bankruptcies or foreclosures,” said the central bank.

Source: Business Times

Autumn Tower, the forth and final tower of All Seasons Park residential development by the Belleview Group. Prominently located along Lebuhraya Thean Teik, a major road on the island city, this residential project is accessible via Lorong Batu Lanchang. It is only a short drive to hypermarkets such as Giant Farlim and Sunshine Hypermarket Farlim.

The development is anchored by a 3-level podium “strip mall” – All Seasons Place, that includes key tenants such as Hero Market, MR DIY, Maxis, Guardian, Sushi King, Summer Bakery, Starbucks and Black Ball.

There are several schools less than 600m away, including Chung Ling High School, SMK Air Itam, SK Seri Indah, SJK Chiao Nan, SK Batu Lanchang and others.

Property Project : Autumn Tower @ All Season Park
Location : Lebuhraya Thean Teik, Penang
Property Type : Condominium
Built-up Area: 856 sq.ft. – 1,323 sq.ft.
Land Tenure : Freehold
Developer : Belleview Group
Indicative Price: RM 400,000 onwards
Latest Price (2019): RM825,000 onwards (Penthouse)

GEORGE TOWN: Car toll for the Second Penang Bridge has been set at RM7, said Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Dr Ismail Mohamed Taib.

“Tolls will match those of the first Penang Bridge. We want it to be lower, but if we are lower, the first bridge management will complain and sue for compensation.

“The first Penang Bridge was supposed to increase (the car toll) to over RM9, so we were ready to follow them.

“However, now they have confirmed that they are staying at RM7, so we will also charge the same,” he said after witnessing Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah cast the second bridge’s 292nd and final pier marking the end of foundation works.

Asked how long the RM7 toll would remain, he said at least until 2038.

It was first announced in June 2010 that car toll for the first Penang bridge would be hiked from RM7 to RM9.40 in 2013.

In November last year, it was reported that the concession period for the Penang bridge had been extended to Dec 31, 2038 in exchange for a freeze on toll hikes.

On the progress of the Second Penang Bridge, Dr Ismail said works were 73% completed with some 3.5% ahead of schedule.

If all proceeded well, he added, the bridge could be completed two months ahead of the September 2013 target.

Upon completion, the Second Penang Bridge will be 24km long 10.5km longer than the first bridge which will make it the longest bridge in South-East Asia.

Source: The Star

PETALING JAYA: Policymakers at Bank Negara followed the lead of their regional peers by holding the key policy rate steady, as growth momentum moderated amid a slowdown in trade activity while upside risks to inflation remained.

The central bank, which maintained the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3%, said in a statement that while global financial conditions had improved, downside risks to the global economy remained.

“The high global commodity prices continue to pose risks to inflation,” it said.

Bank Indonesia kept rates unchanged at 5.75% while Bank of Korea maintained the key interest rate at 3.25% for the ninth consecutive month on Thursday.

The move by Bank Negara was not a surprise to economists, who before the release of the statement, had said policymakers would continue to weigh growth concerns against inflationary risks.

Citigroup Inc senior economist Kit Wei Zheng said in a report that with emergency conditions that triggered the 2008/09 rate cuts not materialising, a rate cut did not seem to be under serious consideration now.

He pointed out that policymakers expect inflation to remain below 3%, assuming no adjustment to subsidies even after the elections.

“Household debt seems to be a more important factor driving rate decisions, as policymakers reiterated that macro-prudential measures will be ineffective if rates are not normalised,” Kit said.

Bank Negara noted that growth in the advanced economies remained subdued although concerns over the European sovereign debt crisis had abated while there were tentative signs of improvement in North America.

“In Asia, while growth continues to be supported by domestic demand, the growth momentum has moderated amid a slowdown in trade activity,” it said, adding that overall growth momentum was expected to moderate largely due to the weaker external environment.

The central bank said while headline inflation was expected to moderate in 2012, there were still upside risks to inflation emerging from supply disruptions as well as higher energy and commodity prices.

“The monetary policy committee will continue to carefully assess these evolving conditions and their implications on the overall outlook for growth and inflation,” it said.

Kit said triggers for a rate hike would be met on US economic data continuing on the upside for another two to three months, faster-than-expected implementation of the Economic Transformation Programme projects and if core inflation picked up.

“We maintain our view that the OPR will be kept on hold through 2012, with a possibility that the next rate move, which is likely in 2013, could be upward,” he said.

It said latest indicators and surveys of businesses pointed to continued expansion in private consumption and business spending in the local economy with domestic demand continuing to drive expansion.

“Private consumption will be supported by stable employment conditions, income growth and public sector measures. Investment activity will be supported by the domestic-oriented industries, the commodity sector and the public sector,” it said.

Source: The Star