This follows the disclosure by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow last month that the state government had received a proposal to reclaim 121ha off the waters of Batu Ferringhi for a world-class resort.

He said state agencies were looking into the proposal by a developer.

The Socialist Progressive Front said Chow should reject another reclamation proposal “right away”.

One of its leaders, Teh Yee Cheu, said earlier town planning master plans had stated that the waters of Batu Ferringhi and Tanjung Bungah were not zoned as reclaimable.

He asked if the new 2030 Penang Structure Plan (PSP) had zoned the foreshore, where the developer plans to build a wellness resort, as reclaimable.

“We wonder when they are planning to publish the 2030 PSP. No one has seen the final copy,” Teh told reporters today.

Last month, local NGO Citizens Awareness Chant Group (CHANT) had revealed artists’ impressions of the proposed resort, which includes luxury hotels, wellness centres, apartments and “floating villas” in the reclaimed area.

The initial drawings showed the project would begin near the floating mosque in Tanjung Bungah and continue northwards to Rasa Sayang Resort in Batu Ferringhi.

In one of the drawings, it appeared that an island would be formed off the waters of Batu Ferringhi, while a strip of the beach would be reclaimed.

FMT has contacted state Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo for comment.

Reclamation works are being carried out off the Gurney Drive foreshore, at the Seri Tanjung Pinang II island project, and at the foreshore of the Queensbay area in Bayan Lepas.

Soon to take off is the mega three-island Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project in the southern part of the island.

In Seberang Perai, a 650ha reclamation project is also set to take place off the shores of Butterworth.