GEORGE TOWN – Civil society groups remain adamant that the benefits brought by the Penang South Islands (PSI) and light rail transit (LRT) projects are not worth the trade-off in environmental harm caused.
Despite the decision to scale down the PSI reclamation project – from three islands to one – Penang Forum executive council member Lim Mah Hui said the scheme’s projected profit of between RM1 and RM3 billion is hardly worth sacrificing the state’s ecology for.
“It is hardly much money to sacrifice the state’s ecology. For RM1 billion, Penang can only build one or two highways. We can conserve the costs by focusing on projects that are conservative in nature but serve as effective public transport.”
He also suggested an autonomous rail transit system as a cheaper LRT alternative while public buses should be the main transport component – rather than building more roads as the state’s original transport master plan was focused on moving people, not vehicles.
“The LRT is supposed to cost up to RM10 billion – that is a lot of money which can be channelled into other modes of development for Penang,” Lim told The Vibes.
He added that the state government needs to understand that any form of reclamation will hurt the island’s ecology, and that current weather conditions are what climate scientists have warned of for decades.
Meanwhile, Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman has called for a new environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the PSI project, taking into consideration the changes in the plan.
Despite an assurance from Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow that a new EIA is not required other than fulfilling 71 conditions imposed by regulators, she said more study is needed, even to reclaim one island.
“The chief minister should not move too fast. When the project design changes, the hydrological patterns change. If the two other islands are scrapped, currents and coastal patterns change. This is just one example.”
Another PSI critic Khoo Salma Nasution said it is wrong to assume that there would be less impact on fisheries since only one island would be reclaimed.
She said when the second bridge linking the island to the mainland was built in 2008, fishermen in the southern coast, where the island is to be reclaimed, suffered from a drastic drop in their catch.
However, the situation had improved since 2014, the same year the second bridge was completed, she added.
Khoo said catch had reduced in several parts of Penang, including in Tg Tokong in the north and in the Penang Channel, due to reclamation work.
The Penang Fishermen’s Association, or Pen Mutiara, representing 1,600 members, said the reclamation work would affect the state’s biggest area for prawn spawning.
“We can earn up to RM600 daily from our catches, while some 60 boats ply the area daily. So, we are totally against the project whether it is one or three islands,” said its president Ibrahim Che Ros.
‘Take into account mass movements of people’
In defence of the Penang LRT proposal, project delivery partner SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd said critics did not take into account the movements of commuters in neighbouring states, especially Kedah and Perak, who work in Penang.
A top executive at the company told The Vibes that traffic congestion in Penang has worsened as what used to be a one-hour trip to Alor Star in Kedah now takes up to 90 minutes.
He added that civil society groups should not just rely on Penang’s population to oppose the LRT project as there is a need to include those living just outside the state but work there.
Also, he said the PSI’s Silicon Island and the LRT will be a boon for development and job creation.
“Silicon Island will be a landmark reclaimed island, which is designed to cope with climate change and rising sea levels, while driven by green tech.”
Aliran had said Penang’s population could soar to an estimated 2.45 million by 2030.
On Thursday, chief minister Chow said the state government had agreed to only one 2,300-ac man-made island for the PSI project, instead of three.
The turnabout came at the urging of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and after Putrajaya pledged additional federal funding to expedite the LRT’s development.
Last week, Anwar said funds for the LRT in Penang would comprise federal grants and loans and urged the state government to scale down the controversial PSI project.
Penang’s civil society groups have largely been at odds with the state government over the PSI project, with some asking for Anwar’s intervention to scrap it.
Following that, Chow appealed for federal funds to pay for the proposed Juru-Sg Dua elevated highway, saying it would alleviate outstation traffic along the North-South Expressway that spills into Seberang Prai.
Originally, the three-island PSI project was mooted to underwrite the costs for the Penang Transport Master Plan, which mainly consist of an LRT system, five highways, and separately, a cross-channel undersea tunnel between Gurney Drive and Bagan Ajam. – The Vibes, May 13, 2023
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