Source: TheStar

It will take about five years to drill a tunnel from the hill face behind Kek Lok Si Temple to Paya Terubong.

Miners will drill into the hill “metre by metre” to ensure minimum impact to the environment and soil structure, said Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

“They will make small, controlled charges and shape the tunnel as they go. It’s not like quarry blasts,” he said.

Szeto Wai Loong, the project director of SRS Consortium, which is the project delivery partner of the Penang Transport Master Plan, explained that the technique is called chemical blasting.

“There will be no risk to any structures above ground as there is much less smoke and vibration. But it’s much more expensive,” he said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Asked if there was a way to keep the Pan Island Link (PIL) 1 section near Kek Lok Si and the Air Itam Dam completely underground, Szeto said that was impossible because of the valley from the dam to the old Ayer Itam town.

The current proposed alignment will see a six-lane tunnel from Penang City Park ending on one side of this valley, a 300m elevated highway across the valley and another tunnel created behind the 125-year-old monastery leading to Paya Terubong.

The work will involve the transportation of thousands of tonnes of excavated rubble through Jalan Balik Pulau, the steep and winding road that is the only way to Kek Lok Si and the Air Itam Dam.

Szeto said the planners were keenly aware of the challenges of transporting the rubble, adding: “We will do our best not to disrupt people’s lives. This includes working at night and not blocking the roads during peak hours.”

During the press conference, Chow was asked about the objection from some local NGO members, who argued that it was not worth the cost and effort just to be able to drive from Gurney Drive to the airport in 15 minutes.

“It may take just 15 minutes for one person. Multiply that by 1.6 million Penangites and six million tourists.

“How many man-hours lost in traffic congestion will Penang be able to save with PIL 1? How much more productivity will we gain from this?” Chow asked.

Source: TheStar.com.my

The first phase of Penang Sentral in Bagan Dalam is expected to open in October.

Modeled on Kuala Lumpur Sentral, the RM2.7bil development stands 10 storeys high and overlooks George Town on the island.

Built on 12.8ha of land, the hub is equipped with shops, ticketing counters and food outlets and will link bus and taxi services to the Butterworth KTM train station and Pengkalan Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal.

The Star reports that Bagan Dalam assemblyman M. Satees said work on the first phase of the project was in its final lap and awaiting the Certificate of Comple­tion and Compliance (CCC).

“We were informed that the building will start operating in October but there has been nothing official yet.

“The state is looking forward to its opening to ease traffic congestion in areas surrounding the terminal. Buses, taxis and ride-hailing services will have their designated areas in the terminal,” he said.

In May, it was reported that the hub will accomodate 200,000 daily passengers and is equipped with 900 parking lots.

It includes an information centre, connectivity to the ferry terminal and train station, and self-service ticketing kiosks.

The Star reports that the project includes commercial and residential components. There is a shopping complex, three 36-storey office blocks and a 35-storey hotel.

The daily reports that Penang Sentral amongst Northern Corridor Economic Region projects unveiled in August 2007 by then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Land acquisition issues had plagued the project, resulting in delays.

Source: EdgeProp.my

The reclamation of three islands to finance the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) will add value to the state’s investments, said Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (PH-Padang Kota).

Chow said the three proposed islands, on the south of Penang island, went beyond improving the state’s transport system as it would significantly boost the state’s economy by beefing up its land bank.

“It was initially thought if the Federal Government stepped in to help finance its transportation projects, the three islands need not be reclaimed.

“(But) the three islands were needed so that the existing Penang airport can have its runway expanded, besides offering a larger area for industries to grow and boosting the state’s land bank,” said Chow.

“We have asked the Federal Government repeatedly if they can help with our transport projects. If they can help, great, but in reality, we are short of land.

“The Penang South Reclamation (PSR) scheme is good value for our industrial zone expansion. It is for Penang’s future development,” he said in response to Lee Khai Loon’s (PH-Machang Bubok) call to review the project over climate change concerns during the state assembly today (Aug 6).

PTMP, which is the state government’s multi-billion ringgit public transport project involving LRT, monorail, cable cars and water taxis, depends on funding from property development on a proposed trio of man-made islands known as the PSR scheme.

The reclaimed islands will have a total land area of 1,800ha.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Source: TheStar

If Penang gets a low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT), it will likely be to the south of the current passenger terminal and only about 1km from the proposed islands to be reclaimed off the southern coast of Penang island.

It has been the dream of AirAsia and the Penang government to have the facility since 2007.

An inside source in AirAsia revealed that former chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon had given approval for AirAsia to build the LCCT on a 36ha piece of land at the coastal end of Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas.

“But it met with resistance from the Transport Ministry then due to political reasons, and also because the plan was for the LCCT to be privately run, instead of by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).

image: https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/settag/name=lotame/tags=

“Now that there are new levels of political cooperation between the state and federal governments, it will be interesting to see if the 11-year dream can come true,” the source said.

The project was highlighted at the state assembly yesterday when Air Putih assemblyman Lim Guan Eng, who is also Finance Minister, hailed the move to have a new LCCT for Penang while debating the motion of thanks to the opening speech by Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas.

Lim, speaking to reporters outside the august Hall later, said: “We are not talking about expanding the present terminal but a totally new one that will use the same runway.”

The former chief minister said Putrajaya would talk to Air­Asia and MAHB on the LCCT plan.

“While AirAsia is very much interested to help, we still need to work out the specifics of the plan,” Lim said.

He said a solution was needed be­­cause the present airport in Bayan Lepas only has the capacity to handle 6.5 million passengers a year but arrivals last year hit 7.1 million and the number was expected to increase to 7.8 million this year.

Former Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi recalled that the LCCT plan was proposed in 2007 and said if it had been done 10 years ago, Penang would have had a different future.

“Penang is well positioned to be a regional hub for international tra­vellers who fly low-cost.

“Tourists who arrive on full-­service airlines will have plenty of options to travel elsewhere on low-cost flights. So this makes Penang attractive as a prime point of visits for tourists,” he said.

On July 31, AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fer­nandes hinted that the low-cost airline giant was looking at plans to build an LCCT in Penang.

“A new terminal will help us increase our planes from five to 16 over the next five years. This will bring in about eight million more passengers per annum into Pe­­nang,” he said after a courtesy call on Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

He added that the plans would feature both domestic and international routes.

The current Penang International Airport is the oldest in the country, having been built in 1935 when Pe­­nang was part of the Straits Settle­ment in South-East Asia ruled by the British.

It underwent a major upgrade in 1979 to accommodate Boeing 747s, then the largest planes in the world.

The terminal saw two significant facelifts in 2009 and 2013.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Location to be confirmed

A proposed residential development by PE Development (Penang) Sdn. Bhd at Batu Kawan. Strategically located next to Design Village, less than 2 minutes drive to the upcoming IKEA. It’s only about 20km away from the key employment centre of Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone.

This development will see the construction of a 35-storey condominium, offering 496 residential units with various facilities.

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

Project Name: (to be confirmed)
Location : Batu Kawan
Property Type : condominium
Built-up Size: (to be confirmed)
Total Units: 496
Last Update: Sep 2020
Indicative Price: (to be confirmed)
Developer : PE Development (Penang) Sdn. Bhd.

Location Map:

(Approximate location)