FOLLOWING the request by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz to Penang during his visit in September, the Penang government submitted a list of 23 urgent projects directly to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to be considered in the upcoming national Budget.
The national 2023 Budget is scheduled to be tabled tomorrow.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the list was submitted directly to MoF on Sept 14.
“The total value of the 23 urgent projects is about RM14.03 billion.
“Earlier, we submitted a list of 126 projects, with a total value of RM17.72 billion for them to be considered in the national Budget. It is a yearly affair for the state (through the state Economic Planning Department) to collect applications from various state agencies before submitting them to the national Economic Planning Unit (EPU). These applications will then be considered in the national Budget,” he told a media conference today.
Explaining further, Chow said that while the total value of the 126 projects is RM17.72 billion, some projects could take a few years to be implemented or completed.
“The RM17.72 billion is just the total value of the 126 projects. It is not that the Federal Government must provide RM17.72 billion to Penang in one approval. In this scenario, only RM2.9bil is required if these projects are approved in the coming national Budget,” he said.
Chow said the state Economic Planning Department received applications from 20 state agencies.
“The Finance Minister took note of Penang’s list of 126 projects and its total value during his visit to Penang in September. In addition, he requested the Penang government to further submit a list of urgent and pressing projects directly to the MoF. Therefore, we submitted a list of 23 urgent projects to MoF on Sept 14,” Chow replied to a journalist, adding that most of the 23 urgent projects were new, but some might be in the original list of 126 projects.
Chow said that the listed projects were mainly infrastructure projects, such as the Pulau Aman development plan, Penang South Island (PSI) project, Bayan Lepas LRT project, Penang Green Connectors project, Penang North Seafront project, Dewan Sri Pinang upgrading project, Penang Bay project, and federal route FT006 from Bayan Lepas to Teluk Kumbar upgrading project.
“These are our wish lists to the Federal Government, and we want them to be implemented. We hope they will be approved and included in the national Budget scheduled to be tabled tomorrow (Oct 7).
“Penang, being a major economic hub in the country, should be given due recognition for its high investment achievements, contribution to the trade surplus, and export value.
“The challenges (in terms of infrastructure) in Penang are great. Traffic and flood mitigation projects require federal funding, if possible.
“I am keen to see if the Finance Minister would approve the additional list from Penang which he had requested us to send directly to MoF,” he said.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Siew Chia En
Video by Law Suun Ting