Batu Kawan: A Pearl Yet To Be Polished

Batu Kawan is slowly emerging as the next Bayan Lepas in Penang?

So far three multinational companies have committed themselves to invest in a new plant in Batu Kawan. They are Japanese Honda, Swiss VAT and German Bosch. Among all these three companies, the construction of VAT and Honda plants have already started and the first to begin its operation should be VAT, a vacuum valve maker, who should be able to produce its first valve here by the end of 2012 or even earlier in September. Honda's plant is expected to be completed by the first half of 2013.

     Honda plant: looks like it is near to the bridge

Unfortunately, Bosch's RM2.2 billion solar panel manufacturing project was delayed due to cost and design reasons. Its construction is supposed to start at end of last year. Bosch said that it will come out with a new cost-effective design by the end of 2012 then only the construction can start. Nevertheless, Bosch has signed the Sales & Purchase Agreement for the land with Penang government and paid 10% deposit.

      VAT plant: small scale

For property in Batu Kawan, the existing ones are Intan Cempaka, Villa Tanjung Permai, Teratai Idaman by PDC property at the northern border which is further from the second bridge located at the south of Batu Kawan. Nearer to the bridge, PDC has Halaman Seroja and Dedaun luxury bungalows. It seems like there will be Dedaun phase 2 in the future next to the phase 1.

      Dedaun bungalows with man-made lake

Another completed development here in Bandar Cassia is the Crescentia Park by Equine/Abad Naluri, which consists of mainly low-medium cost affordable landed homes. This project is known for its delay for almost 3 years and just obtained OC in the end of 2011.

      Crescentia Park low cost houses

Besides, the state government has come out with a RM2.7 billion Bandar Cassia Affordable House Scheme by PDC on an 80ha plot of land. This project is designed by Singapore-based Surbana and will have about 12,000 medium-cost housing units, three football fields, a man-made river and recreation parks. The units will be housed in high-rise buildings of between nine and 16 storeys and ranging from 800sq ft to 1,000sq ft. They are priced at between RM72,500 and RM220,000 each with a free car parking lot. This freehold project has a 10-year development period over five phases with the Phase 1 expected to be ready by 2014.

      Bandar Cassia Affordable House Scheme

There are quite a lot of new factories under construction at the nearby Penang Science Park. With the completion of Penang Second Bridge expected in the end of 2013, the south-west of Province Wellesley could see a significant growth in term of population, jobs, infrastructures and housing projects. Areas nearby Batu Kawan such as Tambun, Simpang Ampat, Jawi, Juru etc should be able to reap some benefits from it.

However, if Pakatan Rakyat lose Penang state in the coming general election, will it be a different story?