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PETALING JAYA (July 13): Penang will request for federal funding for its Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) if its application to reclaim land from the southern coast of the island to create three man-made ones is rejected, reported the Malay Mail.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the proposed Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project – which entails the reclamation of land to create three islands that measure 2,000 acres, 1,300 acres and 800 acres – was to raise funds for the PTMP which costs billions of ringgit.
If permission is not granted for the PSR, the state will have to seek other means of funding – including asking Putrajaya for financing, he added.
SRS Consortium, the project delivery partner of the PTMP, has applied for approvals for PSR, an LRT line and the Pan Island Link (PIL 1) highway as part of the transport plan.
“It has been three years and we have not received any approvals and we have not paid SRS anything so the focus is on getting approvals first,” he said.
He added that the approvals must be secured before SRS Consortium can finalise the design and cost of the PTMP – which was first estimated at RM27 billion, before it reportedly climbed to RM46 billion.
Civil society groups have called for the state government to modify the PTMP – especially the PSR, which has been met with fierce opposition over its perceived impact on the environment.
