Anak Pinang urges the federal government to hasten the evaluation and approval for the Penang South Reclamation project, the light-rail transit plan and the Pan-Island Link 1 construction.
We have waited more than three years since these proposals, under the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), were made public.
The then federal government did not seem to pay attention or give priority to these projects. We hope the new administration will be more responsive.
Penang is the second smallest state in the federation. More than 62% of our island cannot be used for development due to the hilly terrain. We have limited land space for industrial, commercial and residential purposes.
Our economy and society are sustained by the local human capital labouring in the industrial and services sector.
Our population has increased by 9.25% in five years (2013-2018) and is expected to continue to rise. Penang is getting more congested and denser by the day.
Besides being small, Penang does not have lucrative natural resources. We have to rely on industrialisation and development to provide jobs for the locals to make ends meet.
This policy has so far been able to sustain the state and Penang had the highest approved foreign direct investments of RM8.5 billion in 2017. This also means that we are more exposed to global and regional economic forces than others.
The previous federal government had stalled Penang’s development while allowing and/or investing in game-changing projects in other states, such as the RM43 billion Melaka Gateway project and the RM109 billion Johor Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex.
With the KL Tower and Petronas Towers already as landmarks, Kuala Lumpur will soon have the Tun Razak Exchange with a gross development value of RM40 billion.
But the last iconic skyscraper built in Penang was the Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak (Komtar), erected more than 30 years ago.
After studying the Penang Transport Master Plan, we at AnakPinang view the projects as proposals to address these challenges and help the state to progress into the future.
We understand and share some of the concern over the projects’ impact. Nevertheless, all projects have both positive and negative effects, and we see the overall impact to have more benefits to Penang and her people.
Therefore, we call upon the new federal government not to stall the evaluation and approval process for these projects any longer. We in Penang have been waiting for far too long.
# AnakPinang is a loose community of Penangites who endeavour to spur tourism, education, health and industries in the state.
The views expressed are those of the group and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.