Sorting out details: (From left) Chew, Wong and contractors discussing the road realignment and expansion at the project site.

Three roads in Air Itam, Penang, are being realigned and expanded by a developer carrying out a mixed development project in the area.

Air Itam assemblyman Wong Hon Wai said the realignment and expansion of Jalan Pisang Embun, Jalan Pisang Rastali and Jalan Pisang Berangan were part of the requirements imposed by the Penang Municipal Council.

The developer’s technical officer Chew Kwong Weng explained that the three two-way tarred roads were all currently about 5m in width.

“Jalan Pisang Embun, Jalan Pisang Rastali and Jalan Pisang Berangan will be expanded to 20.1m, 12.2m and 15.2m respectively.

“The total length of the three roads is about 3km,” he said at the site yesterday.

Wong said the road realignment and expansion project started in January and was expected to be completed by the end of next year.

“This project will be beneficial for all residents in Air Itam, especially those living near the three roads,” he said.

He added that the expansion was timely as it would provide a shorter route to the proposed 4.6km Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu-Bandar Baru Air Itam bypass.

He said traffic congestion in the area was expected to be reduced as well when the project was completed.

Wong also said a new drainage system would be built from SMK Air Itam to Sungai Dondang in Air Itam.

“This drain will help disperse rainwater when there is a downpour in Air Itam which usually causes a flashflood,” he said.

Earlier, Wong handed two computers and five sets of stone tables and chairs worth a total of about RM8,000 to SJK(C) Sin Kang in Air Itam.

The money to buy the items was from his constituency allocation.

Source: StarProperty.my

Owner of affordable housing under the state government will not be forced to purchase extra parking bays for cars or take up renovation packages by the developers.

State Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said affordable housing units come with a parking bay each.

“There are projects with additional parking spaces for sale but these developers have no right to force unit owners to purchase the extra space or take up their renovation offers.

“Let me be extremely clear on this, it has to be on a willing-buyer-willing-seller basis,” he told a press conference after flagging off a vintage car tour at the Esplanade yesterday.

He said he was told by Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng that a Chinese daily’s column which was posted on Facebook had attracted comments from some readers claiming that developers would force house owners to purchase extra parking spaces and renovation packages.

Jagdeep said the purpose of the state in offering affordable housing was for more people to be able to own their own home, not to add an extra burden or deter people from buying the unit.

“There’s no such thing as forcing the owner to buy extra parking or sign up for renovation work with the developers,” he said.

He added that his office had yet to receive any complaints from buyers on the matter but urged those who faced such pro-blems to lodge their complaint with him.

Affordable housing units in Penang are priced from RM200,000 to RM400,000.

Source: StarProperty.my

>> Full list of Affordable Housing in Penang <<

With the help from Penang State Government and a property developer, the 107-year old Chinese Primary school, SRJK(C) Shih Chung, has finally found its new home and will be relocated to Bayan Lepas in the next few years.

The new school will be located within the development area of One Foresta affordable housing scheme. A really good news for young couples who are planning to buy their first home, not having to worry about sending their children to school in the future.

As part of Ideal Property Group’s corporate social responsibility, the developer has contributed 4 acres of land and to bear the estimated construction cost of at least 50 million ringgit.

According to Ideal Property Group’s Chairman Datuk Alex Ooi, the school will have a 3-storey building that can accommodate up to 1,000 students, a multipurpose hall with four badminton courts, a small football field and two basketball courts. There is also a reserved land for future expansion.

Raring to start: Patahiyah sharing a light moment with Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon (centre) and State Financial Officer Datuk Mokhtar Jait after the press conference in Komtar, Penang.

Penang will have a woman as its first mayor after regaining its city status.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had on March 10 proclaimed the declaration of the new status for the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) effective Jan 1 this year.

He said the MPPP would now be known as the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) with Datuk Patahiyah Ismail (pic) as mayor.

“It’s historical that George Town is finally able to regain its city status,” he said at his Komtar office yesterday.

George Town was the first town in the country to be given city status by way of a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth II on Jan 1, 1957.

But when the George Town City Council was merged with the Penang Rural District Council to form a local government ­management board in 1974, it lost that status.

When the Local Government Act 1976 was enforced two years later, the local government management board was replaced with MPPP.

Talks to upgrade George Town’s status started in 2001 under the then Barisan Nasional adminis­tration before a formal application was submitted by the Pakatan Rakyat state government in 2010.

The Cabinet approved the application on Nov 7.

Lim said the new city council would be covering a larger area, from 297 sq km to 305.773 sq km, adding that the number of personnel would also increase by 388 from the current 3,576.

Patahiyah will be sworn in at 10am on March 31 at the official residence of the Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas in Jalan Utama.

Patahiyah was also the first woman to be appointed council president – as head of the Penang Municipal Council – in 2010.

Source: StarProperty.my

Near completion: Mundy (right) together with the school’s director of parent engagement Jesse Rinkenberger showing the progress of the construction work on the school at Bandar Tasek Mutiara in Simpang Ampat, Penang.

Construction of Phase One of the GEMS International School of Pearl City, Penang, is now 60% complete and the school is set for intake in September as scheduled this year.

School principal Glen Mundy said the RM55mil international school in Bandar Tasek Mutiara in Simpang Ampat near Bukit Mertajam, Penang, had the groundbreaking ceremony in June last year.

GEMS International School of Pearl City is a project undertaken by GEMS Education and its local partner Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd via its subsidiary GEMS Maju Sdn Bhd.

This is GEMS Education’s first international school in Malaysia.

Mundy said the international school would be a K-12 (kindergarten to 12th grade) school, for children aged three to 18, that would adopt the National Curriculum for England and Wales, leading to the IGCSE and A-level qualifications.

“We will be following the guidelines of the Education Ministry and will be teaching Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Malaysia Social Studies, Islamic Studies and Moral Studies.

“It’s a way to adapt to the local culture, environment and more importantly the community.

“The advantage of the British curriculum is that it is structured, flexible and at the same time, we can use it to help the Malaysian students,” he said at the GEMS Enrolment Centre in Jalan Tasek Mutiara 2, Simpang Ampat, recently.

Mundy has over 30 years’ experience as an international educator across Europe, Africa and Asia.

He has worked in senior leadership positions in schools in Spain, Vietnam and Malawi; and taught Humanities in the UK, Denmark and the Seychelles.

He joined GEMS Education in 2010 as principal of the International School Tripoli in Libya.

With the onset of the revolution there in February 2011, Mundy evacuated the school and carried on as ambassador and administrator until September 2011.

Subsequently, he worked for GEMS Management Solutions as a senior project manager, assisting in the development of schools in Egypt and the Middle East.

He was also an accreditation inspector for the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) and an IB Diploma authorisation inspector.

Mundy holds a BEd (Hons) degree from Exeter University and an MSc (Geography) degree from the University of London and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

To find out more, visit its website at www.gemsinternationalschool-pearl.com or contact 04-5040639.

Source: StarProperty.my