Cheers and Swedish meatballs liven up Batu Kawan today as IKEA marked the start of construction for its first store in Northern Malaysia.

IKEA co-workers, business friends and government officials came together for a groundbreaking ceremony at the site for IKEA Batu Kawan, Penang. The event gave visitors a taste of things to come as they were served Swedish themed food as a light lunch.

Opening in 2019, the development will put a blue-box IKEA store within a one-hour drive of more than 825,000 households in Penang.

Christian Rojkjaer, Managing Director of IKEA Southeast Asia shares that the IKEA Batu Kawan store which spans 433,000 square feet will offer more Malaysians easier access to well-designed, functional and quality home furnishing at affordable prices.

“We have seen people from Penang driving more than 350 kilometres to shop at IKEA in Kuala Lumpur. This store in Batu Kawan will make it easy for them to come for a great day out”.

The Swedish home furnishing retailer is an important part of Aspen Vision City, a mixed-use development that promises to transform Batu Kawan into a vibrant community with condominiums, a financial hub, a school and parkland among others. The long-term development plan calls for IKEA to be integrated into a large shopping centre.

IKEA is like a magnet for Batu Kawan,” said Yang Amat Berhormat Lim Guan Eng, the Chief Minister of Penang and keynote speaker at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“The store will not only attract millions of shoppers – it will bring hundreds of new jobs, create spin-off business for suppliers, draw in tourists and new investors,” the Minister said. “Attracting IKEA to our state has long been a key part of our plan to make Penang an international and intelligent state that is also an attractive destination where people live, learn, work and play.”

At more than 433,000 square feet (39,979 square metres), IKEA Batu Kawan will create great day out for millions of visitors each year and help IKEA Southeast Asia realise its vision: to create a better everyday life for the many people in this region.

IKEA Batu Kawan will include all the features IKEA fans in Malaysia have come to know and love: home furnishing inspiration in more than 50 room sets, thousands of affordable products – flat-packed and ready to take home the same day, a free playground for children, loyalty programs for the whole family and the IKEA Food experience.

Pathmalingam Arumugam, Store Manager, IKEA Batu Kawan.

People in Penang can also look forward to ideas and products that help them to enjoy a more sustainable life at home while saving money along the way. The range includes products such as LED lightbulbs, efficient taps, food savers, recycling bins and home gardening solutions.

The IKEA Batu Kawan Store Manager, Pathmalingam Arumugam, is from Northern Malaysia and previously led the set-up up and operation of IKEA Cheras in Kuala Lumpur. Mr. Arumugam has already started his search for passionate retail leaders to join the pioneer team in Batu Kawan, and more than 300 local co-workers will be hired before the store opens.

IKEA Batu Kawan, Penang will become the fourth IKEA store in Malaysia, with two in Klang Valley and another in Johor Bahru, Tebrau, slated to open by end 2017. This new store promises to satisfy Penangites’ hunger for affordable home furnishings – and those famous Swedish meatballs!

Yet another gated & guarded residential development by Tambun Indah Group at Bukit Merajam. Strategically located within the established township of Kota Permai, just a stone’s throw away from the ever bustling Jalan Song Ban Kheng. Beng Teik primary school is only a mere minutes drive away.

This development will offer a total of 92 units of 2-storey terrace houses within community hall and swimming pool:

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

Property Project : (to be confirmed)
Location : Kota Permai, Bukit Mertajam
Property Type : Gated and guarded
Tenure: Freehold
Built-up Size: (to be confirmed)
Total Units : 92
Indicative Price : (to be confirmed)
Developer : Jasnia Sdn. Bhd. (Tambun Indah)

Location Map:

A proposed affordable housing development by Vista Fleet Sdn. Bhd. at Sungai Nibong. Located along Persiaran Pantai Jerejak 1, just a stone’s throw away from 98 Nibong Residence. It is about 1km away from Queensbay Mall, about 10 minutes drive to Penang Bridge.

This development comprises a 20-storey condominium, offering 67 affordable units with standard built-up size of 850 sq.ft.

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

Property Project : (to be confirmed)
Location : Sungai Nibong
Property Type : Affordable housing
Tenure: Freehold
Built-up Size: 850 sq.ft.
Total Units : 67
Indicative Price : RM300,000 (estimated price for affordable housing)
Developer : Vista Fleet Sdn. Bhd.

Location Map:

(Approximate location)

Penangites alothe island’s north coast seem divided over the North Coastal Paired Road (NCPR) project.

Some residents in Tanjung Bungah want the road plan scrapped but many in Batu Ferringhi and Teluk Bahang want it as soon as possible.

“Do you know what it was like after the recent big landslide? We were cut off for two weeks. No fuel, no groceries.

“That day, my son had to take his SPM exams and I took him to school by travelling in a big round through Balik Pulau,” said Penang Nature Tourist Guides Association chairman Fauzi Mohd Yacob in Teluk Bahang.

He was referring to twin disasters on Nov 7 when a landslide buried the road between Teluk Bahang and Batu Ferringhi while another road section fell into the sea after a downpour.

“I’m a nature guide and if you want to cut down a tree, I will say no.

“But there is a difference between a need and a want. And the NCPR is needed,” Fauzi said.

A team from The Star spoke to residents, shopkeepers, fishermen and taxi drivers on Monday to get their views on the NCPR.

Food stall owner Sharifah Feisol, 54, from Batu Ferringhi, said she once saw an ambulance with siren blaring stuck in traffic.

“It tried to squeeze through the jam but the road was too narrow and the cars had no space to make way for it. It was a nightmare!”

Fisherman Wong Tien Swee, 35, felt that people should not object to the NCPR unless they live in the northwestern corner of the island.

“Just one small accident along the way and the lorries to collect our fish will be hours late,” he said.

Taxi driver Loo Ah Huat, 81, said he had been servicing Batu Ferringhi for the past 50 years and watched the traffic problems grow.

“On weekends or holidays or after an accident, the whole way from Hard Rock Hotel to the Tanjung Bungah floating mosque will be heavily jammed. We need a new road now.”

But in Tanjung Bungah, a few residents expressed fears that the NCPR might bring traffic from Teluk Bahang and Batu Ferringhi to the Vale of Tempe area.

Retired teacher Ong Nyuk Foong, 59, argued that Jalan Lembah Permai was already congested with new housing developments, an international school and university college.

“The NCPR will make it worse. We don’t want it,” she said.

It was reported in The Star on Monday that the Tanjung Bungah Residents Association got 400 people to sign a petition and wrote to the Department of Environment, urging it not to approve the detailed environmental impact assessment report of the road.

It listed several grounds for objection including the cost-to- benefit, deforestation, construction on slopes steeper than 25 degrees, noise and air pollution.

The NCPR is a 10.53km four-lane road built on hill slopes starting from near SK Teluk Bahang and ending at the L-shaped bend of Jalan Lembah Permai at Sri Vazhikattum Muniswarar Temple in Tanjung Bungah.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Tanjung Bungah residents want the proposed new road from Teluk Bahang to their neighbourhood scrapped after realising it entails deforestation and construction on slopes with gradients steeper than 25 degree.

Through the Tanjung Bungah Residents Association (TBRA), 400 of them signed a petition against the North Coastal Paired Road (NCPR).

TBRA chairman Meenakshi Raman said the environmental impact assessment (EIA) showed that 3.34ha of gazetted forest reserve will be cleared for the road.

“Tracts of the Teluk Bahang Forest Reserve and Bukit Kerajaan Forest Reserve will be deforested. How can this be allowed?” Meenakshi said during a press conference at the Tanjung Bungah market yesterday.

She said the EIA revealed that 46% of the proposed road would be on slopes with gradients higher than 25 degrees.

“The EIA is clear that slope instability risks will be high. Mitigation measures are suggested, but haven’t we learnt enough about Penang’s development? The island is sensitive to landslides,” she said.

The residents urged the Department of Environment (DoE) in writing not to approve the EIA. A copy of the letter was also forwarded to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng on Aug 21.

The NCPR is a 10.53km four-lane road that is part of the Penang Transport Master Plan and is under the purview of Consortium Zenith Construction. It is part of the traffic dispersal system of the Penang Undersea Tunnel project.

The residents are also confounded by the cost. Meenakshi said in 2011, the estimated construction cost and land acquisition cost of the NCPR was RM1bil.

She felt the EIA should have included a cost-to-benefit analysis and “for RM1bil, can’t we think of other alternatives to the traffic problem?”

In response, state exco member Lim Hock Seng clarified that the clearing of the forest reserves was studied in the EIA as a requirement, but the state is planning to avoid it.

“The first phase of NCPR is from Batu Ferringhi to Tanjung Bungah. The Teluk Bahang stretch, where the forest reserves are, won’t happen so soon.

“Although it is studied in the EIA, we do plan to continue examining alternatives and avoid deforestation,” said Lim.

Source: TheStar.com.my