Penang planning more reclamation activities to increase land reserves

GEORGE TOWN, Nov 4 (Bernama) -- The Penang government is planning to carry out more land reclamation activities to increase the state's land reserves for housing.

State Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said these reclamation activities are inevitable and are one of the methods of adding land for development purposes.

"If we compare Penang with countries surrounded by waters such as Singapore and Hong Kong, this (reclamation) is taking place. This is one of the ways for us to move forward and this is what we want to do.

"This is one of the methods to ensure the next generation has housing," he said at the second meeting of the fifth term of the 14th Penang state legislative assembly sitting here today.

He was responding to a question from Daniel Gooi (PH-Pengkalan Kota) about the details of the Urban Renewal Project (URC) which aims to ensure that the people can live in more comfortable homes.

Earlier, State Trade, Industry and Entrepreneur Development Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain told the House that Penang's financial performance is stable and strong with accumulated reserves amounting to more than RM2 billion until Sept 30, 2022.

He said the amount included public and pooled funds.

"The state government outlined various aspects related to savings, expenditure, and internal control that are implemented in order to reduce costs and avoid wastage," he said when answering a question from Kumaresan Aramugam (PH-Batu Uban).

Abdul Halim said the state government's goal is to manage finances efficiently as well as all policies, programmes, projects, and activities planned for the development of the state as well as for the welfare of the people to be implemented effectively.

The current state assembly sitting has been adjourned to make way for the 15th general election (GE15) and will continue on Nov 21 with the tabling of the Penang budget.

-- BERNAMA