GEORGE TOWN – The sessions court here today found a company guilty of two charges related to illegal quarrying activities at a hill in Teluk Bahang in the forested northern part of Penang.
Lim Plantation Company Sdn Bhd was fined RM50,000 under Section 19 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976, which prohibits development that is contrary to planning permission.
It was also fined RM15,000 under Section 70A of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 for conducting earthworks without approval from authorities.
Acting for the Penang Island City Council, which brought the matter to court, lawyer Siti Khairul Bariah Jamil Azhar noted, however, that there is no order to stop the works under the provisions.
The defendant failed in its appeal to reduce fines of RM10,000 under the town and country planning act and RM5,000 under the street, drainage and building act.
Friends of the Earth Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman described the RM65,000 fine as a slap on the wrist, as the company can easily pay from profits reaped all these years from the illegal works.
“The city council should have pushed for a jail sentence on top of the fines to send a strong message of deterrence.”
In 2017, local environmental group Penang Hills Watch submitted a report on the illegal quarrying.
In October 2019, Meenakshi issued a statement expressing concern about the activities, which were then already going on for three years.
The city council then lodged a report against the quarrying before taking the matter to court, leading to the case’s first mention in January last year.
Under the new Penang Quarry Rules 2018, all quarry operators are required to submit earthwork plans to the local city council for control purposes. – The Vibes, March 4, 2021
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