GEORGE TOWN – Former councillor with the Seberang Perai City Council Joshua Woo has slammed state PAS chief Muhammad Fauzi Yusuf, telling the latter to get his facts right when criticising the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.
Fauzi claimed that the project would severely impact the state’s food security and fishermen’s income due to the loss of marine life off Teluk Kumbar, when the PSR is fully implemented.
“This is factually wrong.
“There is a surplus of food supply, and the southern part of the island contributes only 4% to Penang’s overall fisheries production, according to the Fisheries Impact Assessment.
“Also, Penang’s fish surplus is more than 10,000 tonnes, so what do you mean there is a threat to food security?” said Joshua.
He told The Vibes that the remarks were confounding.
“If coastal fishery is PAS’ main reason to object to the PSR, then, does it actually know that the present conditions of the trade are unsustainable and not ecological?
“Penang sea, like many parts of the world, suffers from overfishing.
“Studies by experts on 7,800 marine species have concluded that nearly 90% of fish stocks were either fully fished or overfished,” he said.
Hypocritical?
He said overfishing had become so critical that in 2015, the Penang Fisheries Department had to restrict the issuance of licences to fishing vessels, reducing them by 30%.
Pollution by the fishing sector also affects marine ecology as the biggest plastics polluter in the sea is from dumped fishing equipment, not reclamation, Joshua added.
More than 640,000 tonnes of fishing gear is dumped into the sea every year, he said.
“When the Kedah menteri besar from PAS threatened to cut off water supply to Penang, PAS leaders in Penang kept quiet.
“When he (Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor) unveiled the RM40 billion sea reclamation mega project in Langkawi, the same PAS leaders were silent.
“But when the Penang government wanted to proceed with the PSR as part of the state’s efforts to pursue sustainable development, these PAS leaders suddenly became eco-warriors and went all out to criticise the project,” he said in a statement later.
He said Penang does not want to become a backwater state and is different from PAS-led state governments in Terengganu, Kedah and Kelantan.
“The 2019 GDP per capita of these three states were RM28,890 (Terengganu), RM21,488 (Kedah) and RM13,464 (Kelantan), while Penang’s was RM53,342.
“The highest among the PAS-led states is Terengganu, where the mining, burning and refining of fossil fuel forms a large part of the state’s economy.
“PAS leaders wholeheartedly embrace Terengganu’s carbon-intensive economy but fervently preach about environmentalism in Penang. Hypocritical political antics?” – The Vibes, April 14, 2021
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