THE Federal Government today announced that the proposed first alignment of Penang’s first Light Rail Transit (LRT) will be extended to Tanjong Bungah instead of ending just in Komtar, Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook said.
However, although the alignment will be stretched further up northeast on the island, the station in Komtar will be one of the main transit points for the public.
Initially, it was reported that the Penang LRT project will be from Komtar to Bayan Lepas.
“The station had initially been identified, which was here at the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park.
“We expect to have 27 stations on the first alignment at a stretch of 29km.
“This Bayan Lepas – Tanjong Bungah alignment falls under Phase One. We hope to expedite the commencement of the construction as soon as possible and hope to complete it in five years,” Loke said after visiting the proposed LRT station at the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park today.
Accompanying him was Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
Loke, however, stressed that without knowing the location of the LRT depot, it would be impossible to finalise the budget and other proceedings before kickstarting the project.
“We must finalise the location as soon as possible before bringing this matter to the attention of the Finance Ministry.
“One thing that the state and Federal Governments have agreed on is that the depot will not be built on Island A under the proposed Penang South Islands (PSI) project.
“As I have mentioned before, the Federal Government would only be involved in the implementation of the LRT project and not the PSI.
“There are suggestions from the state government and project manager MRT Corp (Mass Rapid Transit Corporation).
“But we must weigh all the options carefully. For instance, we must make sure the depot is located at a suitable and strategic location so that the people will find it easily accessible to other facilities in the state,” Loke added.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on May 6 broke the good news that the Federal Government had principally agreed to fund Penang’s first LRT project.
The Prime Minister, however, urged the Penang government to scale down the Penang South Islands (PSI) project on the same day.
Meanwhile, at the media conference, Loke said he also hoped that the tender of Phase One (Bayan Lepas – Tanjong Bungah) alignment would begin by the end of this year, if everything progresses smoothly.
When asked about land acquisition matters during the construction of the LRT project later, Loke said it was impossible for any such big project to not face this issue.
“We will try to utilise state land as well as existing Federal and PDC land, and we are also willing to work with the private sector on this matter,” he added.
In a related development, Loke said although the Federal Government had principally agreed to fund the LRT project, a financing model is yet to be finalised.
Earlier, Loke and Chow were joined by MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim in Komtar for a discussion about the LRT project.
Then, Loke, Chow and their delegation took a walk from Komtar to the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park, where they were joined by reporters for the media conference.
Also present were state Transport and Infrastructure Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari, state Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin, State Secretary Datuk Mohd Sayuthi Bakar, Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng and Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Daniel Gooi.
Story by Kevin Vimal
Pix by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar
Video by Ahmad Adil Muhammad