UPDATE: Penang state government has clarified that no approval for the construction of the light rail transit (LRT) and Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) project yet. 

The Star learnt that the PIL has received approval from the Depart­ment of Environment – the federal regulator overseeing the Environ­mental Impact Assessment (EIA) report – in March while the LRT is expected to receive a conditional approval from the Transport Minis­try in May.

Both mega projects will be tendered to local and international companies at the end of the year.

“We can expect construction work for both projects to start in June 2020,” sources said.

Earlier, it was reported that the construction work for LRT might start in early 2020.

Both the LRT and PIL are components of the RM46bil Penang Tran­sport Master Plan (PTMP) which has met with resistance from va­­rious conservation groups.

The LRT is an integrated transport solution comprising a monorail link, cable cars and water taxis to solve traffic congestion in Penang while the 19.5km PIL highway project connects Gurney Drive to the Penang International Airport.

The LRT begins from Komtar in the northeast corner of the island and passes through Jelutong, Gelu­gor, Bayan Lepas and the airport before ending at Island B, one of the three man-made islands proposed under the Penang South Reclama­tion Scheme (PSR) to accommodate the state administrative buildings and offices.

The SRS Consortium – a 60:20:20 joint venture involving Gamuda Bhd, Loh Phoy Yen Holdings Sdn Bhd and Ideal Property Develop­ment Sdn Bhd – is the project delivery partner, appointed by the state government overseeing the implementation of the PTMP.

The SRS’s role is to supervise the projects until their completion and to scale down the cost.

The sources said approval for the PSR to create the three man-made islands totalling 1,821ha was likely to be given by the National Physical Planning Council before the end of this month.

“The tender to reclaim the island will be out in the third quarter of this year.

“Reclamation work is expected to start in the first quarter of 2020.

“There will be a need to construct a dam and three power plants for the islands.

“Island A will house indus­trial and residential projects.

“There will be industrial lots developed for sale to foreign and local investors to generate funds for the PTMP projects.

“Island B will accommodate the state administrative offices and commercial properties while residential properties will be developed on Island C,” the sources said.

They said SRS Consortium was expected to raise RM46bil from sales of the islands.

“About 75% of the 1,821ha will be for sale. The sale of the industrial lots has generated a lot of enquiries.

“Some 30% of the enquiries received so far is for the industrial land,” they said.

In the past, non-governmental bodies such as the Penang Forum and the Penang Citizen Awareness Chant Group have opposed both the LRT and PIL, urging the state go­­vern­ment to look at other options.

Last year, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that the major components of PTMP would be fully funded by revenue genera­ted from the sale of reclaimed land of the PSR project.

Read more: TheStar.com.my

Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) is taking another step to achieve the state’s vision of becoming a smart city by implementing Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve issues.

MPSP president Datuk Rozali Mohamud said the programme was a collaborative effort with Intel Microelectronics (M) Sdn Bhd to develop a Smart City project called Smart City of Penang (Scope).

He said the project would tackle four main issues plaguing the mainland — traffic congestion, flash floods, solid waste management and environmental issues.

“As part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, Intel has worked with us to develop this to further improve our monitoring and also take necessary action promptly whenever needed,” he said at the launch at MPSP’s headquarters, here, today.

Also present were Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and state Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo.

Intel developed Dashboard so that MPSP personnel are able to monitor the situation in real time by integrating the existing system used by the local council.

For flash flood alerts, MPSP has installed sensors at 12 hotspots to monitor water levels.

The Dashboard enables MPSP personnel to monitor water levels in real time and issue notifications when danger levels are reached.

This enables MPSP to deploy its personnel quickly to the scene.

Meanwhile, the Environment Monitoring System will monitor the temperature, humidity and air quality.

“If we take the Sungai Kim Kim issue in Johor (for instance), this system will alert us and the other relevant authorities to act before it harms the people,” he said.

Closed-circuit television cameras (130 installed by MPSP and 64 by Intel) allow the council to monitor traffic flow.

Rozali said the system could also be used to detect vehicles making illegal entries at certain route which could lead to traffic congestion.

“For Jalan Chain Ferry, for instance, lorries cannot use the road during peak hours.

“So, these cameras can identify the vehicle type and also its registration plate number and record it.

“We will channel it to the Road Transport Department (RTD) for action to be taken,” he said, adding that the system also provided data for the local council to improve the roads.

It can also be used to monitor the movements of garbage trucks.

Source: NST Online

Penang is mulling to compel low-cost (LC) and low medium-cost (LMC) unit owners to sell their properties back to the state if they were moving to higher-end properties.

State Housing, Town, Country Planning and Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the move would help to reduce the burden of building more LC and LMC units, and prevent the unit holders from making excessive profit by selling their houses in the open market.Jagdeep said it was only appropriate that the unit holders return their properties at the purchase price.

“We are against unit holders making high profits by selling their units in the open market and not to those who are eligible,” he said in Batu Ferringhi yesterday.However, he said there were some legal implications that need to be ironed out before these rules were implemented, adding that the state was serious in finding a solution to the issue.

“Some federal laws too need to be amended to enforce these rules and both the state and the Federal Government are on the same page on this issue,” he added.Jagdeep said while the new laws, when implemented, would affect new projects, the state is keeping its options open to include certain old projects under the new category.

“I first brought up the issue in the last state assembly and since then, we have been working with the government to implement the new rules and hopefully they will be implemented soon,” he said.

Source: TheStar.com.my

A proposed residential development by Suria Permas Sdn. Bhd. at Bayan Lepas. Located on a small plot of land measuring approximately 1.3-acre along Jalan Tun Dr. Awang, just a stone’s throw away from Ideal Vision Park development scheme. Neighboring communities include South Homes, The Clovers, Tree Sparina, and the upcoming Sunsuri Residences and Maldives Residences. Heng Ee Secondary School (Bayan Baru Branch) is within 5 minutes walking distance.

This development will feature a 28-storey serviced apartment offering 198 residential units with two different layout types and rooftop garden.

The project is still pending for approval. More details to be available upon official launch.

Project Name : (to be confirmed)
Location : Bayan Lepas, Penang
Property Type : Serviced apartment
Total Units: 198
No. of Storeys: 28
Built-up Area: (to be confirmed)
Indicative Price: (to be confirmed)
Developer : Suria Permas Sdn. Bhd.
Last Update: Oct 2021

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.

Sanbumi Holdings Bhd has, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Sanbumi Sawmill Sdn Bhd, entered into a joint venture agreement with Iconic Development Sdn Bhd to construct and develop a RM127 million commercial development project called Iconic Point, located in Simpang Ampat, Seberang Perai Selatan.

The project will be developed on a freehold 8.7-acre landbank that was acquired by Iconic in 2018. It is expected to be completed by June 2021.

It comprises 48 units of three-storey semi-detached shop-offices; a three-storey detached shop-office; a four-storey 48-room boutique hotel; and three units of two–storey drive-thru concept detached shops.

Sanbumi managing director Datuk Chua Tiong Moon said the joint venture agreement with Iconic is in tandem with Sanbumi’s diversification strategy into the property development sector.

To fund the proposed development, Sanbumi also proposed an issuance of 57.32 million new redeemable convertible preference shares and a special issue of up to 74.7 million new shares.

Based on an indicative issue price of 29.5 sen per special issue share, the proposed special issue of shares is expected to raise up to about RM22.04 million.

Source: TheSunDaily.my