GEORGE TOWN, Dec 17 – Penang EXCO Member for Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Chow Kon Yeow had announced on Wednesday that they had “pressed” green light to SRS Consortium to submit the proposed alignment for the railway and highway schemes under the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) project to Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat or Public Land Transport Commission (SPAD).
The railway schemes was alignment on both the Island and Mainland, with one LRT line and 2 monorails on the island, 1 pan-island line linking both sides of Penang, and LRT and bus rapid transit (BRT) on the mainland. Meanwhile, the railway scheme will be also the light rail transit (LRT) line which is linking Komtar, the state’s administrative centre, to the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas which fell under Phase One of the massive initiative.
“SRS will consult with SPAD for its guidance and advice concerning the proposal to build a railway system in Penang. Besides that, the priority project for the highway schemes was the Pan Island Link which will connect Gurney Drive and Bayan Lepas, SRS will submit the necessary approval to the Department of Environment (DOE) for Detailed Environment Impact Assessment (DEIA) report,” Chow said in the press conference in Komtar here Wednesday.
“SRS will submit the alignment proposal to SPAD in February 2016 and it may take up to six months for SPAD to go through. Thereafter, SRS will put them for public display. The approval does not mean that they can start with works. There are many steps to be taken and several authorities to go through. Besides DEIA, they would also have to engage the public before a final approval is given. Meanwhile, LRT and highway project will take six years to complete which the construction for the LRT is expected to start in 2017 , while the PIL highway will begin construction in 2018,” he added.
