GEORGE TOWN, Nov 21 ― Civil society group Penang Forum today chided Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow for painting its 30 member organisations as hostile to the state Pakatan Harapan government.
Steering committee member Khoo Salma said its opposition to the state administration’s recent development plans has nothing to do with politics, but is driven by concern to conserve the state’s fragile environment for the next generation.
“We are not a political party, we are only a civil society raising issues on the environment to protect it for the future generation,” she told a news conference here.
She said Chow used to stand with the groups when he was an assemblyman, even when he was a member of the state administration after 2008, decrying his changed attitude after becoming chief minister.
“It is a very sad day when the chief minister says we are the new Opposition because we are consistently fighting for public interest, we have not changed,” she said.
She said if Chow saw Penang Forum as the Opposition instead of working with them, it indicated that the state is heading towards a “sad time”.
Khoo was responding to remarks by Chow during the state DAP convention last Sunday, that the Opposition parties appeared to have lost their spirits while NGOs in the state have been loud and critical against the Penang government over the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) and the two landslide incidents claiming the lives of 20 workers.
Penang Forum has been at the forefront of protesting against the PTMP and Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) highway under the massive infrastructure project.
The group has held several peaceful gatherings calling for PIL1 to be cancelled and for the PTMP to be reviewed.
They have also demanded for a stop on hill slope projects after a landslide on October 19 killed nine workers at the Bukit Kukus paired road project site.
In recent weeks, the group had raised concerns over proposals to build hotels on Penang Hill.
They also started an online petition titled “Save Penang Hill! NO large hotels on Penang Hill” which has garnered over 21,762 signatures within a week.
