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
