Building ecosystem for industries
Penang Development Corporation (PDC) has laid out its 2024 to 2028 strategic plan that will focus on land innovation, asset innovation, business sustainability and smart professional (LABS).

Its chief executive officer Datuk Aziz Bakar said PDC would spend RM5bil on 15 projects in the next seven to eight years.

He said among the plans was to increase its land bank in the state by another 1,214ha.

“A large portion of the expenditure, about RM3bil, is to acquire a total of 1,214ha in the northern, central and southern parts of Penang mainland,” he said at the launch of the strategic plan by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow at the PDC office in Bayan Lepas.

Aziz said PDC’s existing land bank could be completely used up by 2030.

“Our focus is to start increasing our land bank now to be turned into industrial lands.

“This will enable us to open up new industrial parks to provide more job opportunities and enhance the state’s economy.

“The increase in land bank will be implemented through reclamation,” he added.

Aziz said PDC had yet to identify locations for the land acquisition exercise.

“All this is aimed at creating a complete ecosystem to support the industrial sector.

“We are planning to create a distribution hub, to be located near the Penang International Airport as the airport is slated for redevelopment.

“PDC is creating a complete ecosystem to support the industrial sector which includes a distribution hub for logistics and workers’ quarters.

“We want to ensure that there are more quarters for workers, and we have launched four such quarters in the Bandar Cassia area,” he said.

He said of the four projects, PDC would develop one while the other three were privatised.

“The quarters can house more than 30,000 workers.

“One of the workers quarters, located in Penang Science Park (North), is expected to be completed this August.

“Another two, located in Penang Science Park (South) and Batu Kawan Industrial Park 3 (BKIP3), are still pending planning approvals.

“The fourth workers quarters, located in Bandar Cassia, has been awarded to a developer to design and build before handing over to PDC.

“These are part of our efforts to attract more investors so that when they come, the infrastructure is ready for them,” he said.

Asked about revitalising and rebranding Komtar, Aziz said PDC had just appointed a consultant to revamp the iconic building.

He said they were looking at rezoning the building to see what activities could be brought into Komtar.

“In three months, we should have a proposal from the consultant,” he said.

“We will have engagement sessions with the tenants.

“We will involve everyone as some of the units are privately owned.

“We do not own 100% of the units in Komtar,” Aziz added.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Komtar was Penang’s prime retail location but the building’s shops on the lower floors have since lost their commercial appeal over the years.

While there are many visitors to certain floors during weekends and public holidays, the second, third and fourth floors of the building are largely deserted throughout the week.

A check by StarMetro in June last year found that on the third and fourth floors where arcade games and various types of shops were located, the lots were shuttered.

Numerous ceiling panels were missing while many units displayed “For Sale” signs on their shutters.

Completed in 1985, Komtar with its 65 storeys (now 68), was Malaysia’s first skyscraper.

Bangunan Tuanku Syed Putra in Downing Street was the seat of the state government in the 1960s before it moved to Komtar in 1986.

Since then, most of the building has been occupied by government agencies, from the seventh floor upwards.

The 232m-high building complex, which was the tallest in South-East Asia in the 1980s, once held the distinction of being Asia’s second tallest tower, second only to Sunshine 60 in Tokyo, Japan.

It held the title of Malaysia’s tallest tower for three years.

Komtar remains Penang’s tallest building and its acronym is a contraction of Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak.

The landmark was named after Malaysia’s second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who launched the piling works in 1974.
Penang Development Corporation,chief executive officer Datuk Aziz Bakar,
Penang Development Corporation (PDC) has laid out its 2024 to 2028 strategic plan that will focus on land innovation, asset innovation, business sustainability and smart professional (LABS).