EIA rejection a setback for Penang economy: reclamation proponents

GEORGE TOWN – The rejection of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Penang South Islands (PSI) reclamation megaproject will likely lead to job losses and hamper the state’s ability to rebound faster from the effects of the pandemic, the project’s supporter said.

It will also lead to a prolonged sluggish stretch for the economy and likely cause the northern state to slide backwards, said Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee Chun Kit.

“I think the overly political posturing made people forget that Penang is the heartbeat of the northern region’s economy,” he said.

“And despite countless assurances that the state will take extra effort to mitigate the environment, politics won the course instead.”

While the state needs to decide whether it will appeal the decision, he urged all sides to deliberate rationally as Penang is now at the “crossroads” due to the ill effects of the pandemic.

“We’re living in the new normal. Things will never be the same due to the legacy-like impact of Covid-19. Yet, some quarters think things are the same.

“We had envisioned PSI as the one catalyst to drive the economy as Penang tries to emerge from the pandemic on better footing. Looks like this may not happen.”

The PSI project covering 17sq km involves reclaiming three islands in an area of ​​1,700ha in waters off Permatang Damar Laut here.

While he was unable to provide the actual economic losses due to the landmark decision by the appeals board of the Environment Department (DoE), Lee said the project’s delivery partner will probably provide more details soon.

He claimed that the authorities’ inconsistency over the project would also cause investors to think twice over the state’s potential to leverage off its international standing as the “Silicon Valley of the East”.

The state needs landbanks to boost foreign direct investments, and the plots need to be in strategic areas where connectivity to infrastructures is important.

It must not be forgotten that the main purpose of the PSI was to underwrite the public funding for the proposed Penang Transport Master Plan.

The EIA report was initially approved by DoE on June 25, 2019, but this was set aside by the board in its landmark decision, which has rattled the state.

Another proponent of PSI, former Seberang Prai city councillor Joshua Woo Sze Zeng, reminded critics that not all fishermen object to the project.

He claimed that fishermen at the PSI fisheries resource centre are worried about their future.

He said that similar reclamation projects and even bigger ones were approved previously in Johor and Melaka, with Langkawi in Kedah also being earmarked for something similar.

It is learnt that Penang may now consider the proposition of scaling down the PSI project to first appease the critics, in light of the huge hit the state has taken from the economic downturn and pandemic.

Among the suggestions is to scrap the LRT component and reduce the proposed reclamation of three islands to two or even just one.

DoE director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar said yesterday that a new EIA report must be submitted and processed as required under Section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127).

The appeals board had convened from September 6 to 8 to hear preliminary objections filed by (fisherman) Zakaria Ismail against the DoE director-general’s decision to approve the EIA report for the proposed reclamation and dredging works for PSI.

The three members of the DoE appeals board were sessions court judge Rozina Ayob, Prof Datuk Mazlin Mokhtar and Assoc Prof Ramdzani Abdullah. – The Vibes, September 11, 2021