GEORGE TOWN, Oct 7 — The Penang government will set up a Penang Hill Rainforest Research Centre on top of the hill to ensure the success of its Unesco Biosphere Reserve Programme.
State Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said a tender for the construction of the research centre will be called soon.
“We will also be converting the bungalows on the hill, belonging to the state government, for use in research,” he told a press conference here today.
Lim said the state government, through Penang Hill Corporation (PHC), is managing the Unesco Biosphere Reserve Programme while The Habitat’s management, Creative Quest Sdn Bhd (CQSB), is cooperating with PHC.
He also said the state government appointed Universiti Sains Malaysia to undertake the research programme for the Unesco biodiversity reserve application.
He said the budget involved is estimated at around RM206,000 but this sum is still under discussion.
“A memorandum of understanding will be signed between PHC, The Habitat Penang Hill management and USM,” he said.
He said the eco-tourism site on Penang Hill will be assisting and supporting the state government to turn Penang Hill into a research destination and a “Centre of excellence for rainforest, conservation and academia”.
Currently, USM researchers with the assistance of renowned American biologist and canopy ecologist Prof Dr Margaret D Lowman, spearheaded by the state and supported by PHC and CQSB, will conduct an extensive study for the Unesco reserve application.
The Habitat Penang Hill project is an eco-tourism site on Penang Hill covering 10.04 acres.
The project was awarded to CQSB after an open tender exercise in 2010 and a 30-year concession was given to CQSB on February 22, 2013.
The development of The Habitat is in two phases that included a nature trail, tree top walk, viewing platforms, canopy walk, a helipad plateau, tree climbing and education programmes.
The estimated costs of the public private partnership project was originally RM3 million and it had ballooned to RM32 million due to the involvement of experiments from Greenheart At The Habitat in Canada. The project is fully funded by CQSB.
Phase one of the project is now 70 per cent complete and will be fully completed by the end of this year while phase two is now in the process of implementation. The site is now open to public while some of its signature attractions are still under construction.
