Tunnel study to commence next year

Grand undertaking: Zarul pointing to the spot where land will be reclaimed for the company in exchange for the three roads and the undersea tunnel project.

THE feasibility study for the 6.5km undersea tunnel connecting Penang’s island and mainland is set to commence in January next year.

Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd chairman Datuk Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli said that if all went well, works on the tunnel would begin in 2016.

He said the study would take about a year as it was an environment-sensitive project.

“We will also have to obtain approval for environment impact assessment,” he said at the company’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at G Hotel in Penang yesterday.

He added that the tunnel would connect Bagan Ajam on the mainland and Jalan Pangkor in George Town, which would be linked to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.

The undersea tunnel is one of the RM6.3bil mega projects, which include the 4.2km Gurney Drive-Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu bypass, the 4.6km Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu-Bandar Baru Air Itam bypass and a 12km road connecting Tanjung Bungah with Teluk Bahang.

Meanwhile, Zarul also said that the first phase of feasibility studies for the three road projects had been completed and submitted to the state government about two months ago.

He said the next report complete with the preliminary designs for the roads would be completed by end of September.

On the 44.5ha (110 acres) of reclaimed land from the state in exchange for the cost of the projects, Zarul said it would be a mixed and waterfront development as well as something that “Penangites will welcome”.

“We will do something for the benefit of Penangites. It will be good for Penang and for the country. Penang will be on the map.

“But it’s definitely not going to be a theme park,” he said, and declined to elaborate on what the project would be.

The reclaimed land would stretch from the seafood restaurant near the Gurney Drive roundabout to Tanjung Seri Pinang.