Penang exco promises no high-rise residential, hotel projects on reclaimed Gurney Bay

GEORGE TOWN, May 9 — There will not be any high-rise hotel or condominium projects within the 40.8-hectare reclaimed land marked for Gurney Bay, state executive councillor H’ng Mooi Lye said today.

The local government and town and country planning committee chairman said the entire Gurney Bay project will be open public spaces, and will have amenities for the public.

But he added that two portions of the reclaimed land off Gurney Drive on Penang island have been designated as state reserve land.

“The lands, one measuring 2.8ha and another 8.5ha, are not part of the Gurney Bay project,” he said, showing a map of the whole portion of the reclaimed land off Gurney Drive.

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He said the 8.5ha state reserve land was given as a land swap deal to Consortium Zenith Construction (CZC) in payment for the construction of the ongoing Package Two highway project.

Details of a 69-storey condominium and a 28-storey hotel project planned at the 8.5ha site were posted in a Facebook group recently, prompting concerns and questions from locals.

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“I want to stress that the high-rise building and hotel project is not in Gurney Bay, it is located outside of Gurney Bay,” H’ng said.

He added that the project is a private project on private land and not by the state government since the land was already transferred to CZC as a land swap deal.

He confirmed that the mixed development project has already been approved by the state planning committee.

“It will be closely monitored by the city council and PLANMalaysia,” he said.

PLANMalaysia is a federal town and country planning department under the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

The 8.5ha site in question, located across from Gurney Plaza shopping mall, is adjacent to Phase Two of Gurney Bay.

H’ng said phase one of Gurney Bay, covering 10.9ha, was completed and opened to public in February this year while works on phase two is still in progress.

“Phase Two of Gurney Bay, covering about 30ha, is now at 48 per cent completion and is expected to be fully completed next year,” he said.

He said phase two will consist of public open spaces along with facilities such as a multi-storey 840-lot car park, food and beverage kiosks, a man-made beach and a jetty for water taxies.

He said the state will monitor the implementation of Phase Two of Gurney Bay to ensure it is in line with the state’s idea and concepts.