CM reveals report card, orders state leaders to finish tasks before term ends
PENANG Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has given his administration a 70% rating for its performance, while issuing a directive to state executive councillors to complete unfinished Penang2030 initiatives before his terms ends.
Chow has instructed every executive councillor to identify projects under their portfolios that were lagging in progress.
“I gave the order to start the projects, if yet to launch, and complete them,” he said when presenting the Penang2030 eighth-year report card.
The Penang2030 Dashboard, which launched in June 2022, allows the public to track the state’s progress.
“A government that puts the scoreboard online, updated continuously, for any resident, any journalist, any opposition politician to check on any day of the year, that is a government that has made itself accountable by design, not just by promise,” he said.
Penang2030 was built around four foundational themes and 16 strategic initiatives.
Digitalisation stands out as one of the state’s major wins.
Digital Penang upskilled about 15,000 people through programmes ranging from cashless payment onboarding for small vendors to digital literacy training for senior citizens.
Penang recorded the country’s highest cashless adoption rate for three consecutive years, with all state departments offering cashless options and 99.4% of public service transactions conducted online.
Additionally, 1,822 closed- circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed by two local councils now integrate weather and traffic data to enhance disaster risk management and traffic control.
The state has achieved 91.9% 5G coverage, while average mobile broadband speed reached 211.90Mbps, a sharp rise from 20Mbps and 25Mbps in 2018.
About 500km of fibre-optic network is expected to be rolled out by 2030.
In education, all 396 national schools have been equipped with interactive smartboards while 142 schools have maker labs.
Addressing infrastructure, Chow said the RM1.55bil Penang International Airport expansion remained on track for completion by 2028, which will roughly double its capacity to about 12 million passengers annually.
Work is also progressing on the Penang International Logistics Aeropark to raise annual cargo handling to 500,000 tonnes, while 117ha of Silicon Island had been reclaimed as of June.
Construction on the 30km Mutiara Line LRT with 21 stations has begun, while the proposed Juru-Sungai Dua elevated highway is expected to cut peak-hour travel time by at least 20 minutes.
The Penang Hill cable car project reached one-third completion last month.
On environmental sustainability, Chow said the Penang Nature-Based Climate Adaptation Programme used mangroves alongside engineering measures to protect low-lying communities from floods and extreme heat.
Economic indicators showed median household income rose to RM7,386 from RM5,409 at the launch of Penang2030.
The state also recorded the highest recycling rate nationally, exceeding the national average by 10%.
Under social welfare programmes, Mutiara Food Bank rescued 1,904 tonnes of surplus food for distribution to underprivileged communities while 169 homeless people at Pusat Transit Harapan found jobs.
Agriculture, however, remains an area requiring improvement despite the establishment of 384 urban farms.
Water security remains another concern. The RM2.15bil Penang Water Contingency Plan 2030 aims to ensure sufficient supply until the Sungai Perak Raw Water Transfer Scheme comes online.
Chow became Chief Minister in 2018 and is serving his second term.
The state constitution limits the chief minister post to two terms.
