The 5.7km Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway-Air Itam Bypass (LCE-AI), which was supposed to begin in June, has been delayed pending land acquisition at a “few areas”.

State Public Works Committee Chairman Lim Hock Seng (DAP-Bagan Jermal) said part of the bypass’ alignment involved cutting through land acquired by the federal government for a failed ring road project mooted in the late 1990s.

He said the bypass would navigate through land which is owned by the federal government.

“This is especially at Recsam and Bukit Pemancar (near Taman Tun Sardon). These lands were acquired by the federal government, when the state was under BN rule, to build the Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR).

“As the Land Acquisition Act does not allow the state government to take over land owned by the federal government, hence, we are stuck.

“For now, Penang has asked the central government to give us clearance for the said lands. Once that is obtained, we can start right away,” Lim said.

He added there were some private land acquisition matters pending as well.

Lim said this during the winding up session at the Assembly late last night, in a reply to a question by Wong Hon Wai (DAP-Air Itam). Wong had asked why the project did not take off as planned.

The LCE-AI bypass will cost an estimated RM851 million to build. The proposed interchanges are at Jalan Kg Pisang, Jalan Thean Teik, Jalan Bukit Gambir/Jalan Yeap Chor Ee and Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah.

Of the 5.7km road, 4.15km will be elevated, while 1.55km will be on ground level.

The bypass is a part of the George Town-Butterworth undersea tunnel and three-paired roads project worth RM6.3 billion. It is funded via a land swap deal through an open tender.

The other two paired roads are the 10.5km Tanjung Bunga-Teluk Bahang Paired Road and the 4km Gurney Drive-Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway Bypass.

The three paired roads are to be toll-free.