Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said the Department of Environment (DoE) will deliberate on PSI’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) this month.

“The EIA is expected to take some time given the fact that it has to run through 10 to 15 departments,” he told reporters after handing out aid and recognition to fishermen in Sungai Batu today.

The RM10 billion reclamation project will start with one of the three islands that make up part of the PSI project.

The PSI is a state government initiative to finance the RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) through the reclamation of the three islands covering 1,620ha off Permatang Damar Laut.

PSI project delivery partner SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd (SRS) will reclaim one of the three islands.

Consortium partner Gamuda will pay RM3.8 billion to reclaim half of Island A as part of a 30:70 joint venture with a state GLC, with the lion’s share to be held by SRS.

SRS will reclaim the other half of the island when there is demand.

The first half of the island will be ready to be developed by 2025, earlier reports had indicated. Gamuda had said the PSI, commonly known as the “three islands project”, would one day rival Singapore’s Marina Bay.

Meanwhile, Chow said eight parties had taken part in a pre-qualification exercise for the Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit project, with those shortlisted expected to be announced soon.

He said the shortlisted companies would then submit their request for proposal (RfP) for consideration.

The proposed 19km LRT line with 30 stations is expected to cost about RM8.5 billion.