THIS year’s Penang Pesta will take place at its usual site in Sungai Nibong from Dec 21 to Feb 2 next year, but the state government has yet to decide on its long-term future.
Zairil Khir Johari (PH-Tanjong Bunga) revealed this in response to a supplementary question by Wong Yuee Harng (PH-Pengkalan Kota) during the State Legislative Assembly today. Wong had inquired whether the state government has plans for an alternative site, as the current Penang Pesta location will be affected by the construction of the Penang Mutiara LRT Line.
Zairil, the state Infrastructure, Transport, and Digital Committee chairman, said the Sungai Nibong Penang Pesta site would be transformed into a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) integrated project through a collaboration between MRT Corp and the Penang state government.
Addressing Wong’s query on the number of mosques, suraus, and non-Muslim places of worship (RIBIs) affected by the project and the compensation strategies, Zairil said MRT Corp is in discussions with stakeholders to finalise land acquisitions under Section 8 of the Land Acquisition Act 1960.
“The outcomes of discussions with the affected mosques, suraus, and RIBIs will be announced later. There are currently no plans to relocate any mosques, suraus, or RIBIs. However, parts of the alignment may traverse the periphery of some of these religious sites.
“So far, the state government has not received any applications for the provision of a centralised prayer site related to the LRT project,” he added.