The Penang government will scrap the undersea tunnel project if the Federal Government grants approval for a third bridge in the state.

State Public Works, Utilities, Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said this is based on cost justification of the bridge construction and maintenance which was way cheaper than the undersea tunnel proposed by the state government.

“The undersea tunnel project (Third Link) connecting Gurney Drive and Bagan Ajam is still at the feasibility study stage and has reached 87% of the study,” he said at a question and answer session yesterday.

He was replying to a question from Datuk Muhamad Farid Saad (BN-Pulau Betong) who wanted to know the status of the construction of three highways and undersea tunnel which had been planned by the Penang government.

Lim said the feasibility study on the tunnel, which was originally expected to be completed in December 2016, was granted an extension until September 2017.

“The extension was given after taking into account the need to coordinate information which involved the master plan for sea reclamation projects around Bagan Ajam which had not been finalised,” he said.

Lim said so far, total payment for the main road and tunnel projects in Penang was RM219,987,410.

He said of the amount, RM208,755,080 was paid to Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd as the project contractor and RM11,232,330 to HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd as the independent project technical consultant appointed by the state.

“So far nothing has been paid to the DEIA (Detailed Environment Impact Detailed Assessment) consultants,” he said.

The construction of the undersea tunnel is part of the Penang Transport Master Plan to solve traffic congestion on the island.

Source: Bernama

Sapphire Bukit Panchor, the latest commercial development by Bukit Punchor Development Sdn. Bhd. (A subsidiary company of Thriven Global Berhad) at Bukit Panchor Industrial Park in Nibong Tebal, Penang. It is located at the intersection of Jalan Industri 2 and Jalan Industri 4, less than 3km away from Jawi toll plaza. Penang Second Bridge is only 20 minutes drive away via North-South Expressway.

This project is consisting of 25 units of 2-storey shop offices, with an indicative selling price of RM653,000 onwards.

Project Name: Sapphire Bukit Panchor
Location: Nibong Tebal, Penang
Property Type: 2-storey shop offices
Built-up Size: 3,183 sq.ft. onwards
Land Size : 1,604 sq.ft.onwards
Total Units: 25
Land Tenure: Freehold
Indicative Price: RM653,000 onwards
Developer: Bukit Punchor Development Sdn. Bhd. (Thriven Global Bhd)
Contact No: 04-5062688 / 012-4900113 / 016-4183512

Location Map:

Paramount Corp Bhd is looking at launching RM750 million worth of properties this year, from the initial target of RM600 million, following an impressive sales success in the first quarter of this year (1Q17).

“Our sales target for the year is RM500 million, but in 1Q17 alone we recorded about RM244 million in sales. However, we are not going to revise our target. We prefer to under-promise and over-deliver,” its group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong told reporters after its annual general meeting yesterday.

He said demand for the group’s new properties has been “healthy”, particularly for its Utropolis Batu Kawan development in mainland Penang.

“Quite a fair bit of the [RM244 million] sales came from our Batu Kawan project. [This is because] some of our buyers find it convenient to live there as the place has faster access to the second bridge,” he said.

With an estimated gross development value of RM1.8 billion, Utropolis Batu Kawan is located 1km away from the Second Penang Bridge.

The project is divided into four phases and estimated to be completed by 2026. It features residential, commercial, retail and hotel components, as well as a new flagship campus for KDU Penang University College, which is owned and operated by Paramount’s education division.

“In 1Q17, we launched about RM350 million worth of projects, leaving another RM400 million to go for the remainder of the year,” Chew said.

Find out more about Utropolis @ Batu Kawan

“Our project launches will be confined [to] the Klang Valley and the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. We still see a lot of growth opportunities in these markets,” he added.

Chew also said Paramount is not aggressively expanding its land bank at the moment as the group adopts an asset-light business model.

“We will still look into it when the opportunity arises. But we still prefer to undertake joint ventures with landowners so that we don’t have to commit too much [capital] and hold onto the land for too long,” he said.

Paramount’s property business contributes 70% of the group’s revenue, while the remaining is derived from its education business.

Source: TheEdgeProperty.com.my

The majority of youths in Penang have no choice but to rent due to high property prices.

Most (73.2%) are staying in a property owned by a family member or a relative and many (93.7%) are hoping to own a house within the next five years.

These are some of the findings of an opinion poll carried out by the state government on a sample group of 606 youths, aged 18 to 29.

Penang Institute senior analyst Yeong Pey Jung (pic) said an overwhelming 90.2% of respondents found it difficult to purchase property in Penang while 43.4% revealed that it was not difficult to rent a property here.

“In looking at the responses on perception towards property prices, 91.8% found prices in Penang to be considerably expensive while 69.3% are of the opinion that affordable housing in Penang is not affordable.

“If we look into the 24 to 29 age group, who have a higher purchasing power, 81.7% conclude that affordable housing is unaffordable. This is a phenomenon observed throughout Malaysia especially in urban areas,” she told a press conference on the outcome of the Penang youth survey in Komtar on Tuesday.

Yeong added that more than 90% of respondents hoped to own property but only half of them believe that it is possible.

“The telephone survey, which was conducted in February this year, was to find out how Penang youths feel towards social, economic and political concerns.”

The survey also showed that over 70% of youths involved in community projects were not interested in taking up leadership roles.

They also expressed a general disinterest in politics.

In terms of health, more than half of youths engaged in regular exercise.

About 56.4% found difficulty in gaining employment, a sentiment shared by their peers and immediate social circle.

Penang Youth and Sports, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Chong Eng said the survey was an initiative towards the Penang Youth Development Blueprint.

“The blueprint will be inclusive and function as a guide to encourage social upward mobility and enhance the youths’ development socially, economically and politically.”

The next phase is to conduct a focus group discussion and in-depth interviews with all sectors of the youth community.

Source: TheStar.com.my

About 3,000 jobs will be created for locals with the opening of a RM200 million high-end Global Business Services (GBS) complex near the second bridge by 2020, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced yesterday.

He said the complex, called “GBS by the Sea”, would be housed in two buildings, one eight storeys and the other nine storeys, with a total floor space of 411,000 sq ft and 2,500 parking lots.

Lim said the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) would build the project next to the current Motorola Solutions building at the Free Industrial Zone in Bayan Lepas.

GBS is a term referring to businesses housed under one roof that offer shared services and outsourcing to improve service delivery and reduce costs.

Last month, Lim launched GBS@Mayang, a similar set-up which involved the refurbishment of a mall in Bayan Baru.

The Mayang initiative is part of the Bayan Baru Improvement District under the Penang Cyber City plan.

“Penang’s concerted efforts to enhance GBS infrastructure will provide higher value jobs in the manufacturing industry through expansion and diversification of the GBS business,” Lim said in a press conference at Komtar.

“We aim to be part of the Industry 4.0 Transformation, which revolves around big data analytics, e-commerce, crowdsourcing, cloud computing and the Internet of Things.

“GBS by the Sea is expected to attract many key international players.”

According to PDC general manager Rosli Jaafar, GBS by the Sea is envisioned as a centre for tech and R&D companies.

It will be an MSC Malaysia cybercentre-standard building incorporating retail and food outlets, he added.

Outsourcing Malaysia, the industry association, projected that Malaysia’s GBS sector would see a compounded annual growth rate of 10%-15% in the next three years.

According to Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, GBS companies with MSC Malaysia status recorded a total revenue of RM18.4 billion in 2016.

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority, in its 2016 report on investment performance, listed Penang in second place after Kuala Lumpur in investments for Global Establishments for Services or “Principal Hub”, with an investment value of RM4.1 billion.

Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.com