All Chow could say at a press conference in Komtar today was that Penang was a “civilised and law abiding state”, and it was fully aware of the procedures.
He was responding to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s statement today that Penang must complete an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before going on with the undersea tunnel project.
Wan Junaidi also said he had no clue about the project other than what was reported in the media.
The Gurney Drive-Butterworth undersea tunnel project is one of two components of a RM6.3 billion infrastructure project, which includes three main roads that will criss-cross Penang Island.
Chow said there was no need for the Penang government to inform the department of environment (DoE) on the tunnel project as the feasibility study and detailed design (FSDD) were still being done.
He said the FSDD for the undersea tunnel was at 95.9% as of December 2017.
Once ready, the state government would deliberate whether to carry on with the project.
“If the state executive council gives the green light, then we will start the EIA study. After the EIA study, we will go to DoE for evaluation and approval,” he said.
“We have never said the DoE did not give EIA for the tunnel. This is a non-issue. How many times are we to repeat ourselves? We will only begin work after the green light from the DoE. Period,” he said.
The 7.2km undersea tunnel will connect George Town’s Pangkor Road and Bagan Ajam in Butterworth. It is scheduled to begin in 2023.
The “three main roads” (formerly three paired roads) stretch from Air Itam to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway (5.7km), Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang (10.53km), and Jalan Pangkor-Gurney Drive junction to Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway (4.1km).