MASTER PLAN CONTEST FOR PENANG'S THREE-ISLAND PROJECT

GEORGE TOWN, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- SRS Consortium, the project delivery partner for the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), is organising a master plan competition for the development of three man-made islands under the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.

SRS Consortium project director Szeto Wai Loong today said the company would finalise the matter with the Penang state government and federal Department of Town and Country Planning (PLAN Malaysia) before announcing the details to the public by the end of this month.

"Now, we have the necessary approval. We and the state government want to have (something) like the Bandar Malaysia last time, (on) how to do the master plan.

"We will have this master plan competition where international planners also can participate, even locals can team up with international planners," he told reporters at a conference on 'Moving Penang Into The Future' here today.

Earlier, Szeto delivered a briefing entitled 'Introduction to PTMP' to about 100 participants at the conference.

Szeto said the six best designs or master plans will be selected and presented to the public and state government.

"We will have a symposium so that the public can come and give their opinions, before finally the state will choose which is the best master plan. We want to have a balanced development, so that it will be well accepted," he said.

When asked on the call by the Penang Fishermen’s Association for the PSR project to be cancelled, he said the state government is actively engaging the fishermen.

He said there were so many areas to look into in their objections and the state had set up a task force to deal with the affected fishermen.

Under the PSR project, the state government is proposing to reclaim about 1,821 ha of the sea to build three islands south of Penang International Airport towards the east around Permatang Damar Laut to create a land bank to fund the PTMP. The Penang government received approval for the PSR project EIA report from the Department of Environment on July 4.

The RM46 billion PTMP project entails the construction of an undersea tunnel connecting the island to the mainland, highways, LRT, monorail and a bus network on the island and Seberang Perai.

-- BERNAMA