GEORGE TOWN, Nov 6 – The RM10.8 million Coastal Conservation Project and Improvement of Marine Water Quality at the Batu Ferringhi beach, here, is expected to be completed by February next year. State Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman, Chow Kon Yeow said the project, which began on Aug 12 last year was supposed to be completed by the end of this year but had to be extended instead due to shortage of sand.
“The project undertaken by the federal government through the Penang Department of Irrigation and Drainage to overcome sea and beach pollution, which occurred last year, is 65 per cent complete and 14 per cent behind the original schedule. It’s a little slow because the project needed sand supply specially brought from Kedah for reclamation work along the 800 metres of sandy beach at Batu Ferringhi,” he told reporters after visiting the site here on Thursday.
Chow said the project also includes the building and realigning of the outlet structure at Sungai Batu Ferringhi and Sungai Satu stretching 120 metres. He said the project was being carried out following three major problems at the Batu Ferringhi beach, namely river and coastal pollution, coastal erosion and closure of river mouths. He said the state government would like to thank the federal government for initiating the project as pollution is a serious problem and must be curbed for the benefit of the environment.
