GEORGE TOWN: A total of 50 acres of the overall 131.09 acres of reclaimed land in Gurney Drive, to be surrendered to the Penang government, will be used for future development.
Another 40 acres will be used for the Gurney Wharf project, while the remaining will be state reserves.
As of May this year, Tanjung Pinang Development Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of property developer Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O), has surrendered 90.07 acres of the total 131.09 acres of reclaimed land to the Penang government. The remaining acreage will be surrendered within the next few months.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the 50 acres would be used to fund the three paired roads and undersea tunnel projects.
He said another 60 acres, to make up the total of 110 acres to be surrendered for the paired roads and undersea tunnel projects, have yet to be reclaimed.
"About 50 acres have been earmarked for future development.
"As for the land reserves, we have yet to decide on the use, but a portion will be reserved for the highway if the undersea tunnel project is built," he told newsmen here today.
Chow was met prior to the consultant agreement signing ceremony for the development of the Gurney Wharf project.
Seven consultants signed agreements with the Penang government to come out with detailed designs for each component of the Gurney Wharf project.
Gurney Wharf is a new seafront public park planned for the Gurney Drive foreshore.
Spanning 40 acres, this water-fronting public recreation area, an initiative by the Penang government, will be developed at an estimated cost of RM176 million.
"Physical works for the Gurney Wharf project are expected to begin in the second half of 2021 and completed by Dec 2023.
"Drawing inspiration from some of the world's best public spaces, we aspire to create a spacious waterfront public park-in-the-city that is international in standard yet thoroughly Penang in spirit," Chow said.
The first set of components for the Gurney Wharf development include landscaping of the public park, a promenade and a skate park playing area, kiosk, public toilets, sundry shops, viewing decks, drainage systems, wetlands, footpaths on grades, open carpark and facilities for the disabled.
The second set of components will include food courts/hawker centres, retail areas, F&B areas, water taxi facilities together with the reclamation of two additional water bodies.
In June 2020, the Penang government, through Chief Minister Incorporated, appointed Tanjung Pinang Development as a Project Management Office (PMO) for the project, with the scope of work including to act on an advisory basis and overseeing implementation of work by consultants and contractors appointed and paid by the state.
Meanwhile, state Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the Gurney Wharf project would be yet another iconic site in Penang, projecting the state further into international limelight, but most importantly, serving Penangites by providing them with important public facilities.