I reacted with horror when I saw the proposed master plan for the reclamation of Gurney Drive under the Penang Outer Ring Road (Porr) project.

Almost every parcel of land in the entire 130 acres of proposed reclamation appeared to be zoned for a mixed tourism, hotel, commercial residential development.

This means that it will be developed to the maximum plot ratio allowable under present local planning guidelines which is 283,000 sq ft nett of buildable space per acre of land.

In layman's terms, this means that the developers are planning to build possibly up to 36,790,000 sq ft of sellable properties which are equivalent to 18 One-Stop Centres or one Gurney Plaza inclusive of its hotel and condominiums (assuming these existing developments offer about 2,000,000 sq ft of properties each).

It also means that the project will potentially have to accommodate an additional 35,000 cars, (not counting visitors) the minimum required by the future community of this massive development.

Whilst Porr is supposed to solve the traffic problems in Penang, it appears that this development, if carried out in its present form, will create an unimaginable traffic nightmare for all residents living in Pulau Tikus, Gurney Drive and inner Georgetown city.

I hope more people will wake up to this potentially horrendous tragedy which will befall Penang if this master plan is approved in its present form.

Hopefully there will be serious public debate by all concerned Penangites and lovers of Penang island on this very important issue before it is too late.

Something should be done about this gross abuse of authority by the Penang government for allowing this controversial project to be implemented in such a highhanded fashion without proper public debate or disclosure about its possible detrimental impact upon society and the local environment.