The Penang state government has yet to receive any formal approval for the Penang South Reclamation (PSR).

In a statement today, Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow refuted a media report titled “Penang gets nod to develop islands” and said that the state government has been working with various parties to obtain the necessary approval, in compliance with the process. Once the approval is obtained, the state government will give the stimulus to get on with the job, he said.

Chow also added that there were factual errors in the report on July 4, which irresponsibly misrepresented to the public.

“Since the information is not from an authorised source, the State Government shall not bear any responsibility for the misinformation contained in the article,” he said.

Chow said the state government will disclose the conditions of approval as soon as it receives the official letter.

“When the EIA [Environmental Impact Assessment] approval is obtained for the PSR, a detailed design will then be worked on, before tenders are called for, in the first half of 2020.

“The information contained in the newspaper report is incorrect, as the details are being worked out and will be shared with the media and stakeholders when they are ready,” he said.

Source: EdgeProp.my

The Boon Siew group is not involved in the purchase of a piece of land that the state of Penang had alienated to a private company with the mandate to undertake RM6.34bil worth of infrastructure projects.

In a statement, the Boon Siew group said one of its shareholders was approached pertaining to the purchase of land measuring 22.92 acres from Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZC), but no decision has been made by him in respect of his involvement in the transaction, as all matters are at a very preliminary stage.

Three days ago, StarBiz reported that the Boon Siew group had acquired the land at RM845 per square foot for RM843.64mil, a transaction that would clear some amount of uncertainty on the financing of the RM6.34bil infrastructure projects.

The infrastructure projects comprise three toll-free highways on the island and an undersea tunnel between Butterworth and Gurney Drive. Work on the first of the three highways is due to start in September this year.

However, financing has been an issue because the project is to be done on a land-swap basis. The state will alienate a total of 110 acres of reclaimed land in stages to CZC in return for the company carrying out the projects, including the feasibility study and detailed design.

The undersea tunnel project has been awarded to China Railway Construction Co and is slated to start only in 2023.

However, the job for the first of the three highways, which is a 5.7-km stretch worth RM815mil, has been awarded to the joint venture of Vertice Bhd and Vizione Holdings Bhd

The other two highways are to start next year and the year after. According to reports, the RM6.34bil project is due for ground-breaking, with the commencement of the highway project happening by the end of next month.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Penang Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo (pix) said yesterday that the state government has “lost” RM3.15 million in approval fees that have been waived for foreign property purchases in the state.

He said the state government had received 55 applications relating to the waiver of the 3% approval fee between Jan 1 and June 28, 2019.

“The RM3.15 million approval fees waived was from a total property transaction of RM105 million, at an average of RM1.91 million per applicant,” he said in a press conference here.

The condition for the waiver approval was that the foreigners cannot buy anything less than RM3 million for landed properties and not less than RM1 million for a stratified or high-rise unit on the Penang island, whereas the landed properties and stratified or high-rise properties on the mainland should not be less than RM1 million and RM500,000 respectively.

Meanwhile, Jagdeep also received a letter from the Penang International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) chapter chairman Tan Sri Alex Ooi Kee Liang requesting the extension of the approval fee waiver.

“The request was raised during the last exco meeting, which will be continued by tomorrow,” he said.

According to him, the state’s initiative for the exemption of the approval fee was in line with the National Home Ownership Campaign 2019 (HOC 2019), a collaborative effort between the Housing and Local Government Ministry and Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia, Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association and Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers Association.

HOC 2019 has introduced incentives to new house buyers such as stamp duty exemption and a minimum of 10% discount on the sale price from the property developers.

On June 29, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that HOC 2019 will be extended for another six months until the end of 2019 to encourage home ownership among Malaysians and reduce the number of unsold properties.

Source: Bernama

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is ready to proceed with its plan to expand the Penang International Airport after getting the approval from the Ministry of Finance.

Group chief executive officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin said MAHB has been working on the expansion project over the past two years, bringing in consultants to draw up detailed construction plans after engaging with the Ministry of Transport (MoT), Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) and the Penang state government, including Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

“The plans are ready to be submitted by the end of July 2019 to obtain the planning approval from the Penang Island City Council (MBPP), after the project has received the necessary clearance from MAVCOM, MoT and the Department of Director-General of Lands and Mines (Federal) as the land owner,” said the airport operator in a statement today.

The statement was in response to a news report titled “Operating issue an obstacle to private initiative for airports” which quoted Chow as saying that certain issues have hampered the progress of the Penang International Airport’s expansion.

MAHB said it is currently in the midst of discussions with various parties on the options for investment and funding models.

The airport operator said it had submitted an application to fully fund the project under the proposed MAVCOM Regulated Asset Base (RAB) framework and is now waiting for approval.

It added that once the necessary plans have been approved by MBPP, construction should begin in the first quarter of next year.

Source: Bernama

IJM Land Bhd is expected to start the construction work for its RM4bil The Light City project by the second quarter of next year.

The property group had earlier planned to start construction for the integrated mixed development scheme, which is located near the Penang bridge, sometime this month.

Senior general manager (north) Datuk Toh Chin Leong told StarBiz that the group is pushing the project to next year because there is a need to revise its plan, in particular for the 1.1 million-square-feet retail mall.

“The plan is currently being revised to accommodate more food and beverage outlets and possibly, an experiential themed park.”

He added that The Light City project is targeted for completion in 2024.

The Light City comprises a 1.1 million-sq-ft retail mall, two international class hotels, a convention centre, an office tower and two blocks of condominium.

“Given the challenging economic climate, we are also redesigning the mall so that it can be launched in two phases, according to the pace of market demand.

“The construction cost of the first phase, comprising a 700,000-sq-ft mall, is estimated to be RM1.5bil. As for the second phase, comprising a 400,000-sq-ft mall, we will study the market conditions first before making a decision,” Toh added.

According to Toh, the retail mall and the hotel business would be well supported by the convention centre, which is expected to bring in the crowd.

“The demand for convention centre space is driven by the meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition market, which is booming in Penang.

“Our location is well-centralised around the airport, free industrial zone, George Town city and the mainland. This is also an added advantage,” explained Toh.

He pointed out that the Malaysia Retail Chain Association’s (MRCA) prognosis of the Malaysian retail industry in 2019 was positive.

MRCA is forecasting that the retail industry will grow by 4.5% this year compared with 3.9% last year, which is in tandem with the 2019 gross domestic product forecast of 4.3% and 4.8%, because of the improved business relations with China.

Source: TheStar.com.my