Chow: Foreign Workers' Dorm To Be Built In Penang Science Park Will Address Social Impact Issues

BATU KAWAN, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- A foreign workers' dormitory project, costing RM300 million, is to be constructed in the Penang Science Park South area here to fulfil the accommodation needs of this group in the area due to an increasing number of factories.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the centralised, controlled and planned development of the workers' dormitory marks the state government's commitment to continue supporting the rapid growth rate of industrial development in Penang.

He said the development also helps the state government to address several issues related to foreign workers in the state, especially the social impact in residential areas when they rent apartments or premises in housing estates.

"Penang as an industrial state where we see investments that plan to build factories and require workers, some of them come from foreign countries, need accommodation like foreign worker's dormitory,  built to comply with Act 446, which is to comply with international standards," he said.

Chow said this after the Foreign Workers' Dormitory Construction groundbreaking ceremony at  Plot 1017, Penang Science Park South here. The event was also attended by Penang Development Corporation (PDC) chief executive officer Datuk Aziz Bakar and Urban Pinnacle Sdn Bhd executive chairman Stephen Wong.

The dormitory project consists of 836 apartment units to accommodate 8,360 foreign workers and a commercial block equipped with facilities including a food court, grocery store, security control, recreational area and more.

Chow, who is also PDC chairman, said the project is being carried out under a lease agreement, with the construction and management of the hostel by Urban Pinnacle Sdn Bhd on 2.942 hectares of land owned by PDC, and its construction is expected to be completed within two years.

He said that this important achievement outlines the strategic desire to place foreign workers' accommodations in an area with a controlled and planned environment.

Meanwhile, Aziz said there are two more foreign workers' dormitory projects that will be built through lease agreements with private companies this year, each capable of accommodating up to 8,000 foreign nationals.

He also said the projects are respectively in Batu Kawn and Batu Kawan Industrial Park 3 (BKIP 3), which will be built in industrial areas, far from residential settlements.

"These two projects can accommodate between 7,000 and 8,000 foreign workers, and their dormitories will cover an area almost the same as that of today's project (groundbreaking). Both dormitories will be built by private companies on land owned by PDC," he added.

- BERNAMA