Backwater no more

ONCE a wetland with padi fields, Bayan Baru on the south-eastern tip of Penang island is steadily shedding its backwater image.

The parliament constituency of Bayan Baru is made up of three state seats — Batu Uban, Pantai Jerejak and Batu Maung.

It has been almost half a century since the township was established by the Penang Development Corporation in the mid 1970s.

Now housing projects are mushrooming all over Bayan Baru and the area boasts malls and hypermarkets.

Perhaps the most significant icon of progress is Suntech@Penang Cybercity — the first MSC-designated building outside the Klang Valley.

Former wetland: A view of the Batu Uban and Pantai Jerejak areas under the Bayan Baru constituency

The Bayan Lepas-Bayan Baru industrial hub was declared Penang’s first cybercity in 2005.

Of the three Bayan Baru state constituencies, the Batu Maung fishing village has undergone the least changes but factory worker N. Ramansamy is nonetheless “extremely happy” with the steady progress.

“Previously, there were mostly villages here but now, developers are coming to build houses while the government is starting to construct more facilities and roads.

“These will attract more people to the area,” he said.

Ramansamy, 46, who has called Batu Maung home for close to two decades, wants more to be done.

Factory operator Sidek En, 46, agreed.

“Development has been rapid over the years — now we have so many modern amenities.

“Most of the houses here even have Astro and it goes to show how far we’ve come.

“However, despite the advancements, many facilities are still lacking such as a government clinic and petrol station.

“We have to go all the way to the Bayan Lepas area to pump petrol or see a doctor,” he said.

He called for such basic facilities to be made available in Teluk Tempoyak — the small fishing village he grew up in.

He said that while he was growing up, the villagers there had no tarred roads, water or electricity.

Tranquil scene: The fishing village of Teluk Tempoyak

He hopes that the roads in his village will be widened soon.

“Big lorries ply the village roads daily and it’s very dangerous for pedestrians because the roads are so narrow,” he said.

Ramansamy complained that the foreign workers working at the growing number of factories around Batu Maung simply threw their rubbish everywhere.

“This has resulted in many of the residents, especially in Taman Iping, getting dengue fever,” he said.

He also lamented the setting up of hawker stalls next to the playground there which caused the drainage to clog up.

“The drains emit such a foul stench because the hawkers wash their plates and throw all the leftover food into the drain.

“I have alerted the relevant authorities yet nothing has been done,” he said.

In Batu Uban, traffic congestion and poor public transport are a bane.

Taman Pekaka resident Lin Chin Chon, 71, wants more efficient public transport.

“Even the bus stand that was recently destroyed has yet to be replaced.

“The bus stand was beside Tesco Extra and it was there only for a few months before a car rammed into the structure, destroying it.

“Until now, no efforts have been done to erect a new one,” she said, shaking her head.

Lin’s grouses about public transport were echoed by Mohd Aniq Nazmin, 27.

He called on the government to ensure that the buses arrive on schedule before even talking about a monorail system.

No proper shelter: The bus sign in place of the destroyed bus stand near Tesco Extra in Batu Uban

“If Singapore can ensure that their buses arrive on time, I do not see why we can’t do the same,” he said.

The research analyst from Bukit Jambul also wants more serious efforts to prevent crime in the area.

He hopes more CCTVs will be installed to deter criminals.

K. Shankar, 52, who has been living in Jalan Pantai Jerejak for the past 23 years, also called for more security measures.

He said more police walkabouts were crucial as snatch thefts often happened in the area.

He claimed that his wife had personally witnessed women being robbed while waiting at the bus stands early in the morning.

He urged the relevant authorities to seriously look into building a pedestrian bridge for residents to cross safely from Pantai Jerejak to the Sungai Nibong Pesta site.

Shankar said many had died crossing the main road.

“The authorities say it is too expensive to build a bridge just for people to walk across,” he said.

Bayan Baru is set to face a socio-economic shift soon.

The second Penang bridge connecting Batu Maung to Batu Kawan on the mainland will open in September and the subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition (sPICE) Centre will be completed by 2015.

The bridge, the longest one in South-East Asia and the first built using seismic design criteria, is expected to alleviate traffic con- gestion through the dispersion of vehicles.

It will be the heartbeat of currently sleepy Batu Maung while the sPICE project is aimed at turning Bayan Baru into a centre for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) in Penang.

The latter project involves the refurbishment and rectification of the Penang International Sports Arena indoor stadium and Aquatic Centre.

There will be a new convention centre and a four-star hotel.

A seven-storey car park with 2,000 parking lots will also be built to cater to the crowds.

With the right infrastructure and amenities, Bayan Baru looks set to tap into the lucrative and growing MICE sector.

While plans and development policies are under way for Bayan Baru to undergo transformation from an agricultural wetland to satellite township and a MICE hub, the residents are concerned with bread and butter issues.

It remains to be seen if aspiring candidates in the coming general election can improve the living conditions of the residents. - The Star