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GEORGE TOWN: The Gurney Drive beach development will be completed in late 2023, which will see features like water gardens, a man-made beach, and a coastal grove created on land reclaimed by then.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state government will call for tenders for various projects in the reclaimed area, including the Gurney Wharf pier, which is estimated at a total cost of RM176 million.
Spanning nearly 3 miles east from the Gurney Drive shoreline, the 131-acre reclamation was completed in September 2019, but has since stalled.
The beach reclamation was carried out by Tanjung Pinang Development Sdn Bhd (TPD) as part of an agreement to reclaim Seri Tanjung Pinang (STP) Phase II further north. Costs to recover the 131 acres were not disclosed.
Chow said works on Gurney Wharf will begin in the second quarter of 2021, with seven consultants hired to carry out design and other work on behalf of the Penang government.
He said the reserve land earmarked for a highway connecting to the proposed underwater tunnel will be kept, in case the tunnel project continues in the future. He said two bridges would be built to another reclaimed island in the east, dubbed “STP 2A.”
Chow said that of the 131 acres turned over, 40 acres would be used for the Gurney Wharf project, 50 acres as payment in lieu of the underwater road and tunnel project and the remainder would be government reserve land.
As of May this year, TPD has turned over more than 90 acres to the state government with the rest to be done in stages, he said.
Later, Chow witnessed the signing of agreements between the state government through Penang Chief Minister Inc and seven companies: GDP Architects (architect and project managers); Carnson Design and Associates (landscape architect); Jurutera TSSC Lim (civil and structural engineers); Jurutera Perunding Valdun (mechanical and electrical); Ukur Bahan Konsult (surveyors); Dr. Nik & Associates (marine and rehabilitation engineers); and Dr. Nik & Associates (environmental consultant and environmental audit).
The companies were selected through the Penang State Bidding Board and are required to develop detailed designs for each of the components of the Gurney Wharf project.
At the same event, the chairman of the state’s Local Government Committee, Jagdeep Singh Deo, said that the project received the full support of the locals, with 90% agreeing based on a survey of 1,000 people.
