GEORGE TOWN – More than 30 Tg Bungah residents have gathered to demand that the Penang government keeps its 2018 promise of creating a RM500,000 seaside park in the area.
Tg Bungah Residents Association chairman Zulfikar Abdul Aziz said state leaders in 2018 presented a draft of the coastal park close to the One Tanjung condominium and had several facilities such as a running track, cycling space, and areas to play football, basketball and badminton.
“At the project launch in 2018, then chief minister Lim Guan Eng in a video clip promised a 0.9ha park, a boardwalk and an open concrete stage. Then exco member Chow Kon Yeow and exco Jagdeep Singh Deo were also present at the event.
“Lim promised the park will be completed in 16 weeks and open in December 2018. But four years on, we have no park.”
Zulfikar said the park was planned to be on reclaimed land facing the Cove condominium and the Penang Swimming Club.
He added that reclamation works began in 2000 and it looked relatively modest.
“However, by 2006, the size and height increased dramatically, and residents complained to the association that trucks continued to dump rocks and soil at the site.
“It became an ugly rock hill stretching into the sea and a stop work order was obtained in 2006 to prevent damage to the site.”
He said the association started calling it a “sore thumb” after four Cove Tower’s “fingers” were built.
The residents also expressed their opposition when they learnt of attempts to turn the place into a marina and commercial area.
“With so many concrete developments in Penang, we need more sustainable green spaces.
“Parks fulfil many functions in urban areas as they improve our quality of life. Noisy traffic and urban heat, especially in Penang, are not only damaging the environment, but also incur social and economic costs.”
Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman, who is also a resident, was present at the gathering. – The Vibes, March 26, 2022
