State executive councillor Jagdeep Singh Deo said the 2016 Penang Hill Special Area Plan (SAP) Replacement would be well-thought-out, taking into account climate change and future “Covid-19-like pandemic resilience”.

He said the plan would also see the area in the blueprint enlarged by almost 50% from the present 468ha region covering most of the hilltop, railway and adjacent areas.

Jagdeep said the new SAP would cover 742ha with additional focus on slope maintenance, learning from the 2017 freak storms which caused many slopes to collapse and roads damaged.

“Besides controlling development on the hilltop, we will also strengthen the present infrastructure, which is over 100 years old,” he said after closing the two-day focus group study for the SAP.

He said the SAP would be open for public objection for two months starting November, adding that a full-day discourse with some 100 residents on the hill had already been carried out.

Jagdeep also said the halt in the RM100 million federal funding for the cable car project “cannot stop” the Penang government from going ahead with it.

Separately, Jagdeep said a local plan for Seberang Perai had been finalised and would be tabled for the state planning committee’s approval in October, while the island’s local plan was expected to be completed by next year.