Pix Credit: Ramdzan Masiam
GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has refuted a claim by heritage groups here that Pulau Jerejak’s name has been changed to “Queens Island.”
He said ‘Queens Island’ is merely the name of a development being built on Pulau Jerejak.
“It is just the name of the project, not the island.
“(The developer) does not own the island. The development (only involves) 80 acres of the island,” he told reporters after the groundbreaking ceremony for a low-medium cost housing project at Pintasan Cecil here, today.
Yesterday, the Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) angrily claimed that the name of the historic island of Pulau Jerejak had been changed by a developer on the island.
Its vice-president, Khoo Salma Nasution, exhibited brochures of some of the projects being built on the island – including ‘Queens Residence’ and ‘Queens Island Condo and Villa’ – which contain no mention of the name Pulau Jerejak.
It was reported that the developer’s master plan includes the construction of a bridge connecting Pulau Jerejak with the mainland, 1,200 residential units, a marina, and four star and five star hotels.
Meanwhile, on a separate issue, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo told newsmen that there will be no increase in charges imposed on property developers in the state.
“There will be no increase in charges. I will (elaborate on this in another) press conference,” he said.
Jagdeep was responding to a question posed by Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) on a proposed increase in charges by the state government on developers, which include drainage contributions, low-medium housing cost contributions, infrastructure charges, sewerage charges, open space charges and parking charges.