GEORGE TOWN, The Penang government has chosen to best alignment for the Penang Mutiara Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, as proposed by Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp).
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state government had written to the Transport Ministry two weeks ago to confirm its agreement with the proposed alignment.
‘We have chosen an alignment very similar to the original, with only slight differences. The alignment proposed by MRT Corp is the best for future connectivity with other routes.
‘The alignment chosen by the state government starts from Silicon Island and connects Penang Sentral (mainland) to the Macallum area in George Town,’ he told a press conference regarding the Penang Green International Conference and Expo 2024 (PGIGCE 2024) at his office in Komtar here today.
On the progress of the project, Chow said all major decisions have been made, and it is now at the open tender stage.
On March 29, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook announced that the Federal
Government had officially taken over the Penang LRT Route Mutiara project from the state government, with MRT Corporation appointed as the developer and asset owner.
The project procurement is divided into three main components: Civil construction for Silicon Island to Komtar alignment (Segment 1), Civil construction for Komtar to Penang Sentral alignment (Segment 2) and Turnkey systems and rolling stocks on a Build-Maintain-Transfer (BMT) basis.
In other developments, Chow said the proposal to review the tax distribution system to return at least 20 per cent of the tax revenue collected from Penang to the state could not be implemented at this time.
He said the feedback on the proposal was obtained through his recent meeting with Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
‘The Finance Minister was frank and said that there are currently fiscal constraints at the national level. He mentioned alternative mechanisms besides tax revenue redistribution, such as granting specific grants to the state,’
he said.
Chow also said that during the meeting, Amir Hamzah informed him that the RM1.8 billion Juru-Sungai Dua Elevated Highway project is now on the Federal Government’s main discussion list, and it is still unknown whether it will be carried out by the state or federal government.
PGIGCE 2024, organised by the Penang Green Agency, will be held from Nov 16-17 at the Setia SPICE Convention Centre near here.
It is a platform aimed at gathering key stakeholders, leaders and experts from around the world in four main areas: green technology, green finance, capacity building and net-zero initiatives.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency