City & Country's interview with Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow #5

What is the state’s focus for the next five years?

Transcript

00:00 My focus for the coming five years is to push for the implementation of the various infrastructure

00:21 projects. Some of them have been approved, like the LRT. We will continue with the three

00:35 major roads and undersea tunnel by starting the negotiation for the next package. We have

00:43 started one package which is now about 38% completed according to schedule. We will begin

00:52 negotiation on the second package. The LRT is now under federal government but as a state

00:59 government we have the responsibility to collaborate to ensure to facilitate the implementation

01:07 as well because we also wanted all these projects to be completed on schedule because these

01:16 are long overdue projects. PSI is starting today and there are also several traffic medication

01:26 projects that we want to implement, especially in the Sembrane Prairie area because traffic

01:34 congestion is an issue that we must resolve to make the state attractive for investors

01:44 and also for people outside Penang to come to work so that they can have sustainable

01:53 living, a high standard of living. Trapped in a traffic jam is definitely not something

02:00 that we enjoy. There have been heightened awareness that we need to resolve traffic

02:10 congestion as well. We will be pushing for more projects that can help to elevate the

02:18 traffic congestion issue in Penang. In short, I think my primary concern and major

02:29 task for the next five years is to push for all these infrastructure projects to be completed

02:35 or to begin, at least to begin. Some may take longer than five years to complete but we

02:43 have to start so that we will lay an even stronger foundation for future growth in Penang.

02:50 This idea to have a rail transport system in Penang is not new, not something new. People

02:58 in Penang recognise the need for a rail transport system here. Of course the debate is over

03:06 what type of system, whether it is at grid or whether it is underground or elevated and

03:14 all that. But now that MRT Corp is responsible, we will wait for them to complete their feasibility

03:24 study and to decide on the final alignment and the type of system to be used. We definitely

03:31 hope that it will actually and definitely happen because we have been working for many

03:40 years now. Of course we know that our ability to raise finance for this project is quite

03:50 challenging and the assistance from the federal government is definitely most welcome. 5G

04:02 is well taken care of by the national agencies. We hope roll-out can be completed by year

04:10 end this year so that 5G coverage will be throughout the state, not only for the general

04:21 population but for industrial, for commercial. It will definitely boost connectivity and

04:30 also we hope that there will be more e-commerce in the state with a better 5G infrastructure

04:46 roll-out. Basically, with increased development demand for electricity supply will be there.

05:00 Now if you drive along the first bridge, Tanaga is implementing an overhead cable project

05:11 that is along the southern part of the Penang Bridge. You see all the piling already done.

05:18 Very soon the pylon will be put up and then the cable will run to ensure that we have

05:26 reliable electricity supply. So that is taken care of I think. Another challenge is our

05:34 water supply as well. So we hopefully can resume discussion with the Perak government

05:42 with the help of the federal agencies to realise the Perak-Penang water supply issue that is

05:52 actually crucial for our future development as well. So again it is all about infrastructure

06:01 project in Penang. Penang has now become one of the important economic powerhouse for the

06:11 country and for us to continue with this role, to continue to be the state that has the highest

06:26 export value and surplus from trade through our port and airport, then the whole infrastructure

06:37 ecosystem has to be improved tremendously for us to play this role more effectively.

06:44 [END]