TRAFFIC woes along the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway will be eased with a proposed road widening work, said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

The plan is to extend and relocate an existing pedestrian bridge to construct a 250m-long and 5.65m-wide lane along a stretch of the expressway near the N-Park Condominium.

It will convert the existing stretch of two-lane carriageway to become a three-lane carriageway from George Town to Bayan Lepas.

“This will solve the traffic bottleneck problem especially during peak hours with heavy traffic flow towards Bayan Lepas,” he said after inspecting the site yesterday.

On weekdays, an average of 75,000 vehicles use the Penang Bridge into the island with a large part of the traffic heading towards Bayan Lepas.

Lim said the road widening work was scheduled to commence on Sept 12, and once completed, it would be followed by the creation of a U-turn some 800m ahead of the pedestrian bridge.

The U-turn is 660m in length and will shorten the distance for road users travelling from George Town to Tesco on Lebuh Tunku Kudin, E-Gate commercial com- plex and Jalan Mesjid Negri by 3.5km.

“Both projects will take about eight months to complete,” he said, adding that presently, road users wanting to make a U-turn had to use the Bayan Mutiara Interchange.

Lim said a study would be conducted with the help of Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) to see if the 26-year-old pedestrian bridge could be removed.

He also said a month-long feedback gathering exercise would be held after the Hari Raya celebration to get the public?s opinion.

Leading property developer IJM Land will undertake both projects as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.

Its northern region general manager Toh Chin Leong said the total cost for both projects was estimated at RM2mil.

Also present during the inspection were state Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng, Batu Maung assemblyman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim, and LLM regulatory and monitoring director Abdullah Hashim.
SOURCE: The Star

THE Gurney Drive roundabout in Penang is undergoing major maintenance sponsored by IJM Properties Sdn Bhd and is expected to be completed before the Hari Raya-National Day double celebrations.

A Penang Municipal Council spokesman said several features in the steel structure adorned with bird-shaped sculptures were in need of maintenance.

?The maintenance project that started about two weeks ago will have the water pump, nozzles and cabling replaced.

?It is a routine maintenance. The roundabout will also be cleaned as rubbish has been found in the vicinity.

?Hopefully, the project can be completed by end of this month in time for the Hari Raya and National Day celebrations,? she added.

The roundabout received a major uplift in 2008 following the completion of the RM498,608 beautification project by the same sponsor to have a sculpture with the theme ?wave and birds? featuring curvy metal poles depicting waves.

SOURCE: The Star

PETALING JAYA: Property developer Mah Sing Group Bhd’s net profit rose 47.9% for the quarter ended June 30 to RM43.13mil from RM29.16mil recorded in the same period last year.

The growth was driven by property development activities in Kuala Lumpur, Klang Valley, Johor Bharu and Penang island, the company said in a statement yesterday.

Revenue increased 44% to RM416.1mil from RM289.05 previously.

For the first half of its current financial year, Mah Sing recorded a net profit of RM84.3mil and revenue of RM727.9mil, which was 48% and 38% higher respectively compared with the same period last year.

SOURCE: The Star

IVORY Properties Group Berhad continued its winning streak when the property developer bagged the International Standard Quality (ISQ) 2011 award.

Handed out by the European Union Analysis Alliance (EUAA), the award was for ‘Quality Property Developer & Contractor’.

Ivory’s non-independent non-executive director Ooi Choi Kiat said the award came right on the heels of the group winning the bidding for a 41.5ha plot of land at Bayan Mutiara in Penang.

“This is yet another recognition for us. We will continue serving the community by ‘building a better world for our future generations’ (Ivory’s tagline).

“We will work harder to live up to our status as one of the most established and reputable property developers in the northern region,” he said.

He was speaking after receiving the award from Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Deputy Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim.

In May, the group’s Moonlight Bay pro-ject in Penang earned the highly commended citation as the Best Leisure Development at the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2011.

The ISQ award was aimed at recognising companies and individuals who have demonstrated excellence and dedication in the corporate sector.

SOURCE: The Star

The PGCC was a proposed project to be located at the PTC grounds, carrying a gross development value of RM25 billion and to be built over a span of 15 years by its developer Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, an associate company of Equine Capital Bhd.

Abad Naluri bought the land for RM488 million from the club in 2002 and had, among others, planned to include two five-star hotels, a performing arts centre, retail complex, monorail transportation and a world-class convention centre.

Following public opposition to the development, which was considered misleading and lacking in transparency with issues such as land rezoning and traffic congestion, along with a host of other concerns, the proposed project was officially declared “dead” after the Penang Island Municipal Council in 2008 rejected it on the basis of the developer’s failure to submit the layout plans on time and comply with the council requirements.

On Tuesday, Berjaya Corp Bhd founder and chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan was in Penang to ink a sale-and-purchase agreement between Berjaya Land Development Sdn Bhd (BLand) and Penang Turf Club (PNTC).

BLand is buying 22.8ha of freehold prime land within PNTC for RM459 million cash, and is proposing to develop a low-density, exclusive, guarded and gated housing development comprising bungalows, semi-detached homes and low-rise condominiums with an abundance of landscape and garden areas to complement the serenity and exclusivity of the surrounding areas.

The company, unlike other property developers which have entered Penang in recent times, is set to meet the requirement of building affordable housing units within the same site, although these homes will be located away from the high-end residential units.

Tan made it clear to reporters when he was asked if there would be any controversy on the project, that he was not expecting any from those living in the neighbourhood of the PNTC.

This he said is because there is no retail component to the proposed development, and the condominium would only include two low-rise blocks.

As concerns about traffic congestion owing to an incremental impact of new residents to the area are likely to surface in due time, it would be prudent for BLand to take proactive measures and devise a traffic dispersal system.

On its part, the PNTC has to contend with decreasing horse-racing revenues, while doling out large sums in quit rent and assessment in recent times.

This is because the present site of the PNTC was originally given by the government for a nominal sum and zoned as an “Open Space”. However, this was changed in 2007 to a “Mixed Development” zone, to facilitate the PGCC project.

The club is now saddled with paying revised rates and has been making efforts to increase its revenue base.

In 2009, PNTC said it was planning to embark on a RM30 million development project to build 25 bungalow units on the fringes of the club, which can be rented out to generate income.

Plans for this development is still on the cards, the club’s officials said, and it is currently awaiting the necessary approvals to proceed with the project.

While BLand has made it clear that Penang has become much more attractive as an investment destination in recent times and the company is on the lookout for other opportunities, there should be no major issues or opposition arising from its planned development on the PNTC grounds.

At the end of the day, it is simply a property transaction between two parties, with hopefully no “ghosts” lurking in the shadows.

SOURCE: Business Times