Season’s Greetings from Paramount Property!

Come celebrate a joyous Christmas with Paramount on the 10th & 11th of December 2022 at the new SAVANA show unit.

Setia Mericca, an affordable housing development by Kay Pride Sdn. Bhd. (a subsidiary of S P Setia) near Bayan Lepas. Strategically located on 2.7 acres of land along Jalan Teluk Kumbar, next to Pavilion Resort condominium. This development is just a stone’s throw away from Penang International Airport with an abundance of essential amenities within 10 minutes drive.

The proposed development comprises a 36-storey residential building, featuring a total of 480 affordable units with two different built-up sizes (900sq.ft & 1,000sq.ft). There will also be 10 levels of car parking podium, and recreational facilities will be located at level 10, 11, 35 and rooftop.

More details to be available upon official launch.

READ MORE ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

• Full list of affordable housing in Penang
• Eligibility and the requirement of buying affordable housing

Project Name : Setia Mericca
Location : Bayan Lepas
Property Type : Affordable housing
Built-up Size: 900sq.ft. & 1,000sq.ft
Total Units: 288 (900sq.ft.), 192 (1,000sq.ft)
Indicative Price: From RM300,000 onwards
Developer : Kay Pride Sdn. Bhd. (S P Setia)

DISCLAIMER: This article is solely based on research done using publicly available data. This is not an advertisement. Any claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a project or service should be verified with the developer, provider or party in question.

The groundbreaking ceremony of primary school SRJK (C) Kuang Yu in Batu Kawan has made it into the Malaysia Book of Records after 500 people took part in the ceremony yesterday morning.

The primary school, which has 88 years of history, is being relocated to Batu Kawan from Kuala Muda, Penaga.

Bukit Tambun assemblyman Goh Choon Aik said the setting up of the new school would take three years to complete.

“The cost of the project is about RM18 million,” he said in his speech before the groundbreaking ceremony today.

It was reported in 2018 that the then Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching had said the school, would be built on a 2.43ha plot provided by the Penang Development Corporation (PDC), and was expected to be ready three years later.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the setting up of the school was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Back in 2018, Teo visited the primary school in Kuala Muda which has a low pupil enrolment. She also visited this site in Batu Kawan before proposing for the school to be relocated here so that it could continue to operate.

“An approval to build the primary school was granted by the Education Ministry in 2019,” he said.

Chow said the construction of the school was expected to start in the second quarter of next year.

He added that the Penang government allocated RM200,000 to assist the school.

He thanked and welcomed more sponsors to lend their support to the school.

Also present were state Social Development and Non-Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Chong Eng, and Jawi assemblyman H’ng Mooi Lye.

Source: Buletin Mutiara

Strong market demand will continue to underpin Micron Technology Inc’s operations in Malaysia along with its increased factory space in Penang of 1.5 million square feet.

Chief executive officer Sanjay Mehrotra said the United States-based computer memory and computer data storage producer has invested US$1 billion in its operations here since 2019 which included a 600,000 sq ft factory for assembly and testing.

“We will invest another US$1 billion over the course of the next few years as we build our second factory, which will bring our total factory space to 1.5 million sq ft and is expected to begin production next year,” he told Bernama.

Sanjay said despite the current down-cycle experienced by the memory industry, Micron is poised to emerge stronger as it sits in a “sweet spot” of the semiconductor market, supported by the most advanced technology, the right products and a great team.

He said technology has evolved significantly which simultaneously causes our day-to-day lives being heavily reliant on data, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet-of-Things, smart homes and smart cities.

“We make the products that go into smartphones, vehicles and so on. Data lives in the products that Micron makes, therefore our products are essential. We are becoming bigger as storage is also becoming a bigger part of the semiconductor industry.

“Our growth opportunities are tremendous and we can navigate through the current down-cycle of the industry. We look for a strong performance and continued growth in line with market demand,” he said.

He said its Penang operations, which provided over 4,000 employment opportunities, have become a critically important part of Micron’s global manufacturing network, particularly looking at the tremendous opportunity the memory and storage industry represent to the global economy.

In this regard, Sanjay said workforce development also continued to be one of Micron’s top priority where it has carried out various programmes to develop, attract and retain talent.

He said Micron also focuses on engagement with local universities to spark interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics among the youth, especially towards the kind of engineering that is needed by the semiconductor industry, on top of providing internships and research grants.

“With internships, we hope to train the workforce of the future that is needed by the industry. We also give research grants to universities in the areas related to AI, semiconductor materials and other engineering activities,” he added.

To ensure the well-being of its employees, Micron has recently set up the first public-privately funded childcare centre in the country in a bid to support work-life balance for its team members.

On the basis of creating a supportive and caring environment, Micron understood that access to childcare is one of the biggest factors that determine whether working parents and mothers specifically, are able to build a strong and fulfilling career.

The childcare centre was set up through a partnership with the Penang government and TalentCorp, and managed by the WhyteHouse Education Group, an established operator of early childcare education facilities in Malaysia.

“We aim to build a culture of collaboration, diversity, inclusion and sustainability in our operations,” he added.

Source: Bernama

Parking woes at the Penang International Airport (PIA) will be a thing of the past as its multistorey carpark is expected to open next March.

The 2,200-bay covered carpark will be able to cater to the needs of travellers who can now leave their vehicles at the airport when heading out on short trips.

Penang infrastructure and transport committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the carpark was almost finished.

“I was informed by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) that the carpark construction is 99% complete.

“There were issues with the main contractor but they had been resolved.

“It was initially supposed to open to the public in December but this had been tentatively postponed to March next year,” said Zairil who visited the site earlier this month.

“Based on the briefing, there will be no new additions to the carpark,” he said.

The airport with a capacity of 6.65 million passengers per year welcomes some 18,200 passengers daily since the lifting of movement restrictions caused by Covid-19.

“The numbers are rising as more and more flights to Penang are resuming now,” said Zairil.

“The last time we were informed of the numbers by MAHB, the airport was handling around 14,000 to 15,000 passengers per day but this was a while ago, pre-Covid-19,” he added.

The seven-storey carpark, on the existing 650-bay open carpark site, cost RM70mil to build.

During the construction stage, visitors had a tough time looking for parking bays as these were severely limited and scattered around the airport compound.

The construction of the carpark is part of the PIA expansion project mooted in 2008.

However, the project stalled when the government put on hold proposals to build new airports and upgrade existing ones until the aviation sector recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Oct 5, 2021, it was announced that the PIA upgrading works by MAHB would be postponed while the government looked into several issues including land acquisition.

In a March 27, 2021, report in The Star, then MAHB chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said that based on the MAHB Penang Airport Masterplan, the PIA would have the capacity to handle 25 million passengers a year.

The 87-year-old airport has undergone several infrastructure expansion over the years, the first starting in 1977.

It was fully operational in 1979 with the capacity to accommodate 1.5 million passengers.

It was later expanded and upgraded in 1998 to accommodate 3.5 million passengers, and up to 6.5 million passengers in 2013.

At present, the four-phase PIA expansion project is on hold pending finalisation of the National Airport Strategic Plan (NASP).

The NASP study on airport development is expected to be completed in 2023 in line with the National Transport Policy.

Options for parking

Currently, those using the parking bays are charged RM2 per hour for the first 12 hours while the rate for parking between 12 and 24 hours is RM24.

Another option is valet parking where motorists are charged RM6 per hour if it is less than 24 hours and RM40 for 24 hours.

A parking attendant, who declined to be named, said many had asked when the multistorey carpark would start operating as they preferred parking their vehicles in a covered lot.

“We have come across many people who leave their cars overnight here as they find it convenient when making short trips.

“Our regulars usually travel for work and leave their cars behind for a night or two.

“They say it is cheaper to pay for the parking here than to take a taxi or use an ehailing service,” he said.

The parking attendant, however, said most of the travellers were concerned about parking their cars out in the open space.

“They prefer parking somewhere that is covered as our weather is unpredictable, and they feel it is safer to leave their vehicles in a building.

“The new multistorey carpark will definitely encourage more travellers to leave their cars here and fly, especially for short trips.

“Besides that, the problem of shortage of parking bays will also be solved once the new carpark opens.

“Since the construction started, many people have been parking illegally while others have had to drive around in circles to look for a parking spot,” he said.

Souce: TheStar.com.my