Motorists can look forward to breezier travelling along the newly upgraded 1.25km stretch from Batu Maung to Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah in Bayan Lepas, Penang.

The RM123mil project includes the construction of a 650m four-lane flyover, upgrading of roads from the section in front of SK Batu Maung to Solok Bayan Lepas intersection, and beautification of the roundabout beneath the flyover.

Works Minister Baru Bian said the project, which was approved during the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015), was completed as scheduled on June 29.

He said the project would benefit the local community and bring positive impact to the local socio-economy.

“The project is meant to accommodate the increasing number of vehicles from the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Bridge to Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah and the Penang International Airport.

“The upgraded road is capable of catering to 80,000 vehicles daily.

“With smoother traffic flow, road users coming from the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone and Permatang Damar Laut would save time travelling to the other side.

“It can also cater to further development in the area,” he said after opening the road yesterday.

Also present were Works Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Abdul Razak Jaafar and state Public Works, Utilities and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Works on one of the three paired roads — the 5.7km Ayer Itam-Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway bypass — are expected to startat the beginning of the second quarter next year.

Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZC) senior executive director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli said the groundbreaking ceremony was expected to be held end of this year.

“There is still land acquisition to be done by the Land Office on 10 plots of Federal and private lands.

“It will take about three to six months.

“Once we have done a considerable amount of work on this paired road, we will then start work on the 10.53km North Coastal Paired Road (NCPR) from Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang.

“Otherwise, Penang island will become a major construction site,” he said during an interview at a hotel yesterday.

The paired roads are part of the RM6.3bil mega project, which also comprises a 7.2km undersea tunnel connecting Gurney Drive on the island to Bagan Ajam in Seberang Prai, and the 4.075km Gurney Drive — Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway bypass.

The road from Ayer Itam will be 5.7km long, starting from Jalan Kampung Pisang and connecting with the expressway in Gelugor.

This road will have three interchanges, allowing motorists to get on and off from Jalan Thean Tek, Jalan Yeap Chor Ee and Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah.

About 70% of the dual carriageway will be elevated and the link provides for a 70km/h speed limit.

Zarul said they had secured the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment approval for all the three paired roads.

“We are now proceeding with the Environmental Management Plan and the state government is looking into the land acquisition issue,” he said.

On concerns raised by Tanjung Bungah Residents Association (TBRA) that 46% of the proposed NCPR would be on terrain with a higher than 25 degree slope, Zarul said they had considered all issues and concerns raised by the public.

“As a result, those concerns have been translated into the environmental management plan, which we have to comply.

“The Department of Environment (DoE) imposed 59 conditions on us and some of them were to rectify the environmental issues.

“We will make sure that the issues will be taken into consideration and keep the environment intact.

“The trees and the Dusky Leaf Monkeys (langur), a kind which can only be found up north, will be well taken care of,” he said.

The NCPR is a 10.53km four-lane road from near SK Teluk Bahang stretching until the L-shaped bend of Lembah Permai in Tanjung Bungah’s hillside.

It will have three interchanges along the way — in Jalan Sungai Emas, Persiaran Sungai Permai and near Chin Farm Waterfall.

Source: TheStar.com.my

According to some property developers in the state, compliance cost has gone as high as RM460 psf but this has been reduced to RM390 psf earlier this year. Nevertheless, developers lament that the cost is still too high. Will compliance cost be reduced further?

Chow admits that the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association of Penang (Rehda Penang) and FIABCI Malaysia had previously requested the state government and local councils to allow higher density and plot ratio.

“Because the guidelines have been in place since the 1980s and some in the 1990s, they are no longer suitable for the current market as developers require higher density and higher plot ratio in order to overcome high land cost. We agreed to increase the density from 15-30 units per acre to 87 units per acre. But that came with new contribution [costs] and various charges.

“Developers can choose to use the old guidelines and pay the old rates, but if they opt for the new guidelines, they got to pay the new rates. It is both an incentive and disincentive in a way. If you want to use the new guidelines which allow you to have a higher density for units per acre, you can use it provided you pay the necessary contribution.

“Our purpose was to allow market prices to be controlled. Now that you get more units out of your land, with some contribution, you should be able to keep the prices at the affordable level. That was our main reason we agreed to the proposal, hoping that with higher density, they can keep prices to a level that buyers can absorb,” offers Chow. Nevertheless, at the beginning of this year, infrastructure contribution was reduced from RM15 psf to RM5 psf, which is essentially the old rate.

He also notes that developers had requested for a review of the contribution for public and social amenities and facilities such as hawker centres. Following their request, the contribution cost was reduced by close to 50%.

“For developers who choose to build affordable housing, some of these contributions have been waived altogether as an incentive for them to build. The category of housing that we want to promote is affordable housing, which we have capped to a range of RM200,000-RM400,000,” says Chow.

Source: EdgeProp.my

Picture for illustration only

A proposed waterfront residential development project by Blue Wagon Sdn. Bhd. at Teluk Air Tawar in Butterworth. Located on a seafront land by the Andaman Sea, adjacent to QuaySide @ Clear Water Bay (Phase 1). It is about 20 minutes drive from Penang bridge via North-South Expressway, just a stone’s throw away from SMK Telok Air Tawar.

This development will see the construction of six 13-storey condominiums in two phases, offering a total of 398 residential units. The plan also include two 5-storey multi-storey carpark.

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

Project Name : (to be cofirmed)
Location : Teluk Air Tawar, Butterworth, Penang
Property Type : Condominium
Built-up Size: (to be confirmed)
Total Units: 398
Indicative Price: RM400,000 onwards (estimated)
Developer : Blue Wagon Sdn. Bhd.

Location Map:

The Housing and Local Government Ministry is working with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to ease housing loan requirements for home buyers, in a bid to reduce the number of unsold completed residential units in the country.

Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the central bank is preparing guidelines to allow for the relaxation of lending schemes.

“Current unsold units are mainly due to location, accessibility, loan approval and high cost of buying houses. Last week, we have had meetings with the central bank, banks, the Employees Provident Fund and the Ministry of Finance,” she told a press conference today.

“God willing, the outcome of the meetings was that BNM will prepare a preliminary paper that comes with brief guidelines for the industry to have more relaxed borrowing schemes, (to help) ease the difficulties for home buyers to get loans,” she added.

Zuraida said preparation is still in progress and that the final proposal would be made by August.

“I think by August, we can come out with the full plan, which will be presented by the ministry. Hopefully, we can launch the new loan package for the B40 (bottom 40%) and M40 (middle 40%) (household groups),” she said.

According to the National Property Information Centre’s (Napic) first-quarter property overhang data, Malaysia saw a total of 34,532 unsold and completed residential properties, including serviced apartments and small-office home-office units as of 1Q2018, worth RM22.67 billion.

The figure has risen by as much as 40%, from the 24,738 units worth RM15.64 billion recorded end of last year.

Of the latest figure, 29% or 9,848 units are serviced apartments, 24% or 8,315 units are condos, while 18% or 6,336 units are 2- and 3-storey terraced houses.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets.com