Chow said the project, still pending environmental approval, would not encroach on Middle Bank, a sprawling mudflat off the eastern coast of Karpal Singh Drive known for its marine life and seagrass beds.

He said the environmental approval is part of the environmental impact assessment, now on public display.

“The public and organisations are encouraged to share their views with the developer. So, don’t miss the opportunity to submit your views so that the department of environment can consider them,” he told reporters at Komtar.

He was responding to residents’ group Protect Karpal Singh Drive Action Committee, which had asked the state government to drop the reclamation altogether and gazette Middle Bank as a marine sanctuary.

Its spokesman, AD Chandrasekaran, claimed that the developer’s own EIA report confirms that the landfill can be rehabilitated within its existing footprint. He said the proposed reclamation was unnecessary and harmful to marine life.

“We implore Chow to champion a truly sustainable and innovative approach,” he had said in a statement.

Chow, however, stood by the state’s plan, saying the reclamation was essential to create additional space for rehabilitating the decades-old Jelutong landfill and to reduce the risk of pollution.

“The site, once cleaned up, will be handed over to the developer for mixed development. The project is expected to take five to six years,” he said.

He said the state and the Penang Development Corporation would receive a portion of the reclaimed land – “about 20% to 30% of it” – as part of the concession deal.

Asked if Penang would consider putting up its new state assembly building there, as earlier planned, he said no final decision had been made on how the state would use this land.

In 2015, then governor Abdul Rahman Abbas had suggested that the state assembly be relocated to the rehabilitated landfill, as the present assembly building was too small.