Jagdeep: Penang South Reclamation project to be presented in April – report

GEORGE TOWN (Feb 19): The Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project will be presented at the National Physical Plan Council (MPFN) in April, state exco Jagdeep Singh Deo said today.

The mega project which will involve the “creation” of three islands is still not tabled at the MPFN but the Penang state authorities have already “complied with all the necessary requirements and fulfilled the various studies for the project”, Malaysiakini reported Jagdeep saying at the Penang 2030 Seminar on the Social Impact Assessment Manual in Bayan Baru today.

"At the meetings which I attended on behalf of the chief minister, I saw how other states had their reclamation projects approved, with the condition that they submit the required reports,” he said.

He also added that the “PSR plan is ready for approval as the only matter pending is the fisheries impact assessment report”, reported the news portal.

"It is not a new plan but last time the federal government was not in the same family," he jokingly told the media.

PLANMalaysia director-general Rokibah Abdul Latif, however, said in another media conference that “the PSR will be considered once the state completes its 2030 Penang Structure Plan (PSP)” reportedMalaysiakini.

The 2030 PSP “is already in its final stages”, with “one more public consultation” pending “which will be held next month before the state wraps up the matter”.

Jagdeep reacted to Rokibah’s statement saying that “once the PSP is ready, it will be submitted to the State Planning Committee (SPC) for endorsement”.

He also explained said that Putrajaya would be notified on the status “so that the reclamation project could be approved even without the endorsement of the SPC”.

Chiming in was Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who said the public “may lose opportunities to give their views or appeal against a project if there is a structure or local plan already in place”.

The PSR is a reclamation mega project to create three islands of 1,821ha. It is supposed to fund the RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan.