Penang has secured RM33.22 billion for 280 federal development projects under the Second Rolling Plan (RP2) of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) for 2027, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said in a statement on 19 October. The list covers 44 new projects and 236 ongoing projects, with RM2.68 billion set aside for the projects next year, Bernama reported.
The 44 new projects carry a combined cost of RM578.29 million, of which RM63.71 million is allocated for 2027. Four of them, Utusan Malaysia noted, are state priority schemes that the Penang government submitted to Putrajaya in February.
Those four are the Sungai Keluang Ubi Flood Mitigation Scheme in Central Seberang Perai; the upgrading of Jalan Bukit Tambun FT149 from the Jalan Persekutuan FT001 junction to the Bukit Tambun Selatan Toll junction in Simpang Ampat, South Seberang Perai; the Sungai Perai Flood Mitigation Scheme (Phase 2) in Central Seberang Perai; and the mapping and development of the state’s groundwater resources.
Together they cost RM96.95 million, with RM2.2 million allocated for 2027. A fifth state priority project, the Penang STEM Talent Blueprint, was approved earlier under the First Rolling Plan (RP1) of the 13MP at a cost of RM12.3 million.
Chow said the state government will continue to strengthen strategic cooperation with the federal government so that development allocations are used well for the state and its residents. “This includes joint efforts to establish the Penang Technology Financial Centre, envisioned as the country’s technology-focused financial hub,” he said.
The centre is expected to contribute RM12.1 billion to gross domestic product and support more than 71,000 jobs over the next 15 years. Penang has also said it appreciates the approvals and will keep working with Putrajaya to make the most of the allocations for the state and its residents.
Rolling plans are the spending cycles that sit under the five-year Malaysia Plan. Each cycle reviews projects already in the pipeline and adds new ones, so a state’s allocation under RP2 is largely a schedule of what can be built in the coming year rather than a single lump sum handed over at once.
The 236 ongoing projects make up about 84 per cent of the approved list, leaving the 44 new schemes at about 16 per cent. The RM2.68 billion for 2027 works out to about 8 per cent of the RM33.22 billion total project cost, and spreading that total across 280 projects gives an average of about RM118.6 million a project.
Two of the four priority schemes target river catchments in Seberang Perai, a third covers the state’s groundwater resources, and the fourth upgrades a federal road link at Simpang Ampat.
