BUTTERWORTH: Seberang Prai Municipal Council has yet to receive an application to start work on the Penang Sentral project, raising suspicion that the project have been abandoned by its developers.
Council president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said it had received all building plans and they had been approved.
"However we have not received any application from the developer to commence work on the site. We are anxiously waiting for the project to start, but unfortunately nothing seems to be moving over the years," she told Streets yesterday.
Maimunah said the developer has yet to solve several issues pertaining to the relocation of the hawkers' complex next to the temporary bus terminal.
"Their architects have met us, but have never gotten back to us since.
"There is no decision on whether the hawkers' complex will be relocated within the premises or certain compensation would be given to them," she said.
The multi-billion ringgit transport and commercial hub, which was launched six years ago, has been left in a state of utter mess.
The 9.6ha site near the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal and the Butterworth KTM station has hoarding around it and the entire site appeared abandoned.
Checks by Streets on Tuesday revealed that parts of the site were turned into a dumping ground with vagrants squatting in the area.
It is an eyesore to users of the ferry services and the temporary bus terminal.
Replying to a question on the general state of cleanliness of the terminal, Maimunah said MPSP has repeatedly issued fines to the developer over the years.
"We have taken action and issued warnings to them several times.
"Our health director has informed us that compounds were also issued. We are waiting for them to clean up the area," she said.
The construction of the transport hub was officiated by the then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on July 31, 2007.
The first phase, costing about RM400 million, comprised an integrated transport hub for ferries, buses, taxis, trains and a retail site.
Penang Sentral, which is part of the Northern Corridor Economic Region initiative, was to be developed by Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) and Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputera Bhd.
In November last year, MRCB was reported as saying in Business Times that the project is estimated to be worth over RM3 billion, and will be built in a similar style to the KL Sentral in Brickfields.
It was reported then that the design and construction of Penang Sentral would be handled by the firm Veritas Architects and be modelled after Kuala Lumpur Sentral.
It was also reported that construction of the transport hub, the new gateway to the Northern Corridor, would start in the first quarter of 2009 and be completed by 2011 while the entire commercial development would conclude in 2015.
Presently, the RM5 million temporary bus terminal handles 4,500 passengers a day, with the new terminal, if completed, serving 65 million passengers a day. By Predeep Nambiar
Read more: 'No application for Penang Sentral' - Northern - New Straits T
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