It is offering US$625,000 (RM2.5 million) in total honorarium to the five shortlisted groups.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the interested applicants should apply by Nov 25 as a grouping or consortium, made up of different disciplines, comprising town planners, architects, engineers and transportation experts.

International applicants are welcome.

The winner of this “Master Plan Design Competition” will be the “lead master plan designer” of the proposed three islands covering 1,821ha.

They will also be given the chance to name the islands, which from now on will be collectively known as the Penang South Islands (PSI), as opposed to Penang South Reclamation (PSR) as before.

Chow said the winners would also help the government decide what activities should be carried out on these three islands.

For starters, the Penang government wants Island A, directly below the airport runway, to be largely devoted to industries.

However, all three islands would have mixed development projects.

“The plans must be in line with the Penang 2030 Vision and requirements of the National Physical Planning Council,” Chow said.

He said the competition is organised by the state government together with the Malaysia Institute of Architects’ northern chapter. Winners will be announced next April.

The PSI is part of the Penang government’s RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), aimed at addressing the state’s worsening traffic woes.

The government plans to reclaim the three islands and later sell them to the highest bidder to build highways, a light rail transit line and other modes of transport.

For more details on the competition, visit www.pg-mdc.com.