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THE Penang government has engaged 16,527 people on the state transport initiatives since December 2015 until today (Aug 23).
The state transport initiatives are the Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) highway project and the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said 965 sessions which involved government agencies, elected representatives, professional and business groups, associations, non-governmental organisations, media, fishermen, residents, beach users, focus groups and the public had been conducted.
“In addition to the engagements, the ‘request for proposal’ (RFP) documents for the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) were also put on public display from Jan 16 last year to Feb 17 last year.
“The display period was extended to Feb 28 last year following public request.
“We are reaching 1,000 engagement sessions soon.
“Whenever we receive the letter of concern from the community, we will try to send our team to engage them so that they can get a better picture of the situation and we can listen to their concerns directly.
“Some of the forthcoming engagements include the schools and the Than Hsiang Temple in Bayan Lepas,” Chow told a press conference at his office in Komtar on Aug 23.
Chow said some parties have concerns about the PTMP recently.
“They claimed that the state is not transparent regarding the PTMP.
“We would like to draw your attention to our effort.
“Although it is not required by any law, we agreed to the suggestion to open up the RFP documents; which we did for six weeks from Jan 16 last year to Feb 17 last year and subsequently extending the period to Feb 28 last year following public request.
“The submission documents of the bidders were displayed for all to inspect. It has never been done before but we did it.
“We cannot be doing it every day. We have done it.
“Maybe those who claimed that we are not transparent have missed the opportunity at that time,” he said.
Chow said that Penang Forum, being the key advocate, attended the PTMP engagement session.
“Subsequent to that, we had a workshop to discuss their concerns,” he said.
Chow said the state will continue to engage the public.
“We have announced the ‘Sayangi Penangku Hunt’ (to be held on Sept 1) event. It is to allow the public to understand the LRT alignment.
“There will be a public forum entitled ‘Public Forum: PTMP for Penangites’ which will be held from 2.30pm to 5pm on Sept 2 at Dewan Sri Pinang,” he said.
Chow said the Department of Environment (DoE) had directed the state to hold a public town hall session on the PIL 1.
Chow also reminded the public to give their feedback on the PIL 1 since the public feedback period has been extended to Sept 24.
“We will be holding a town hall session on the PIL 1 as soon as we receive the notification from the DoE.
“We have not received the official letter from the DoE on the matter. We will probably hold it in September, as soon as we receive the official letter,” he said.
Chow said the state was still waiting for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) approvals for the Bayan Lepas LRT railway scheme.
“We have gotten the reply from the National Heritage Department (NHD) on the HIA report submitted for the Sia Boey (old Prangin Market) area since we are going build the LRT station there.
“What is required is the Visual Impact Assessment. Generally, I think the NHD has no issue with regard to siting the station in Sia Boey,” he said.
On the PSR, Chow said the Hydraulic and Marine Traffic Risk Assessment had been approved.
“We still have to work on the Fishery Impact Assessment (FIA), the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and the Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA).
“All these have to be ready before the EIA can be approved.
“The EIA is crucial for the reclamation (of the three proposed man-made islands) project to be approved.
“There will be another public town hall session on the PSR. We are still waiting for the official notification from DoE,” Chow said.
He reiterated that the state would abide by the conditions set by the Federal Government agencies with regard to the PTMP.
“The PTMP is crucial to address the key threats to the state’s sustainable growth.
“We are facing an increase in traffic congestion, resulting in the reduction in productivity and the eroding quality of life in Penang.
“There is also the shortage of developable land, especially for affordable housing in Penang.
“There is a need to facilitate sustainable growth of Penang’s economic engines such as electrical and electronics (E&E) sector, tourism sector, services sector and others.
“Penang also needs a reliable public transport infrastructure with a long-term vision to achieve her public transport mode share target of 40%,” Chow added.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Alvie Cheng