The Penang Science Park South area will see the construction of an RM300 million foreign workers dormitory project to meet the group’s housing demands as a result of the growing number of enterprises in the area, FMT reported.
According to Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, the centralized planned and regulated construction of the workers’ hostel demonstrated the state government’s dedication to fostering Penang’s fast industrial growth.
According to him, the development also assisted the state government in addressing a number of concerns pertaining to foreign workers, particularly the social impact that their rental of apartments or other property in housing estates has in residential areas.
“Penang, as an industrial state where we see investments that plan for factories and require workers – some from foreign countries – needs accommodation like foreign workers dormitories, built to comply with Act 446, which is to comply with international standards,” he said.
Chow made this statement at the groundbreaking ceremony for the development of the hostel for foreign workers at Plot 1017, Penang Science Park South. Stephen Wong, executive chairman of Urban Pinnacle Sdn Bhd, and Aziz Bakar, CEO of Penang Development Corporation (PDC), also attended the ceremony.
In addition to a commercial block with amenities like a grocery shop, food court, security guards, and a recreation area, the dormitory project has 836 residential units to house 8,360 foreign workers.
According to Chow, the PDC chairman, Urban Pinnacle Sdn Bhd, is building and managing the hostel on 2.942 hectares of PDC-owned land under a leasing agreement. Construction completion is anticipated to take two years.
Aziz added that two new dorm buildings for foreign workers, each with space for up to 8,000 foreign nationals, would be constructed this year through lease agreements with private businesses.
According to him, the projects would be located in industrial locations distant from residential areas, specifically in Batu Kawan and Batu Kawan Industrial Park 3.
“These two projects can accommodate between 7,000 and 8,000 foreign workers, and their dormitories will cover an area almost the same as that of today’s project (groundbreaking).
“Both dormitories will be built by private companies on land owned by PDC,” he said.
