BUTTERWORTH – The Seberang Prai City Council (MBSP) has mooted a new railway link between here and the proposed Kulim International Airport in Sidam Kiri, Kedah – indicating that Penang may have come to accept having the airport in the neighbouring state.
After vehemently opposing the airport plan due to existence of the Penang International Airport on the island, which has been the main aviation gateway in the northern region, the state may have conceded that the project will proceed despite doubts over its viability.
Many see two international airports within a radius of just 65km as unfeasible.
The project idea was first raised by Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir when he was Kedah menteri besar in 2013.
MBSP proposed such a connection during the tabling of the Seberang Prai Local Plan Draft, which was presented by local planning consultant Norliza Hashim at MBSP today.
Both Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and MBSP Mayor Datuk Rozali Mohamud were unavailable for comment. Bagan Ajam assemblyman M. Satees, whose constituency is in Butterworth, said he will study the matter.
The proposal calls for a rail line to connect Penang Sentral, beside the old ferry terminal in Butterworth, which is the main public transport dispersal hub in the region, with Sidam about 48km away near the Penang-Kedah border.
There is also a proposal for a LRT line to run parallel with Penang Bridge from Jelutong to Penang Sentral, stretching 20km in distance.
Cross-channel ferry routes would link Queensbay Mall in Bayan Baru with Penang Sentral, and from Gurney Wharf off Gurney Drive to the Sentral hub.
The proposals seem to be out of scope of the Penang Transport Master Plan conceived by the DAP-led state government.
There are also new townships proposed in the draft in the Greater Butterworth zone, the Kepala Batas-Bertam township, and the Bandar Cassia-Simpang Ampat belt.
Norliza said that there would be new routes for public transport, with an inclination to push for more bus links than private vehicles commuting.
She also said that there are now 16 cottage industrial areas in Prai, a suburb of Butterworth.
Norliza said that to meet the push for industrialisation here, seven more industrial parks can be created, using 2,511ha of state land.
Norliza also tabled the prospects of enlarging farming land.
Currently, there are 12,782ha of padi fields in Seberang Prai and there are plans to expand them by two-thirds as part of the National Rice Bowl initiative to boost food security.
There also are plans to preserve the forest reserves in Bukit Mertajam and protect ecologically sensitive areas. – The Vibes, July 2, 2021
