Cost of Penang's transport master plan has not surged: Chow

GEORGE TOWN: The cost of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) has not escalated, according to Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow (pix).
He said the amount of RM27 billion and RM46 billion bandied about referenced two different documents.
Chow said the smaller sum was for the tender estimation based on the initial conceptual studies drawn up by transport consultant Halcrow in 2011.
He said the larger figure was for the plan by SRS Consortium, the PTMP project delivery partner (PDP), which included railway and highway networks.
Chow said those submitting their proposals under the request for proposal (RFP) excercise did not have to follow the Halcrow recommendations 100% and were free to submit their own proposals.
"This is what SRS did, they have their own variations, which if implemented totally, will be more than Halcrow.
"These cost remain the same so far and there is no escalation," he said in a press conference today.
On the progress of implementing the PTMP, Chow said the state has approved RM17 billion worth of projects so far.
He said these were the Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (LRT), the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) and three highways awarded to Consortium Zenith Sdn Bhd.
For the LRT, Chow said the railway scheme has been submitted to the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) on March 28, 2016, for approval while the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was submitted to the Department of Environment (DOE) on March 31, 2017.
For the PIL1, the EIA is expected to be submitted to the DOE by end July 2017 while the public display for the three highways are on display until July 19.