GEORGE TOWN, July 26 — Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) urged the Penang state government to abandon the entire Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project instead of scaling it down.
SAM president Meenakshi Raman said the larger RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) should also be reviewed.
“Seeking federal funds for a transport plan which is not financially and environmentally sound does not make any sense and will only increase the government debt and is a waste of tax-payers’ money,” she said in a statement today.
She said the state’s proposal to scale down the PSR project if there is federal funding for the PTMP components — Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Pan Island Link (PIL 1) — will not solve the fundamental problems posed by both PSR and the PTMP.
She said SAM and other civil society groups have consistently called for an independent review of the PTMP so that a better, cheaper and more sustainable version can be put in place.
She pointed out that even the Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub openly admitted in Parliament on July 16 that the reclamation project would destroy and permanently affect mudflat ecosystems, fishing grounds, turtle landing zones and part of the coral reefs at Pulau Rimau, which is an important ecosystem for the local marine life.
“According to the Department of Fisheries, the reclamation will indeed disrupt the feeding grounds, nursery and main migration route for the shrimps, thus affecting their population,” she said.
She said the anticipation of marine ecology degradation due to the PSR project was also clearly noted in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project.
“As pointed out by the agriculture minister, the livelihood of the 4,996 fishermen will be adversely affected, where 1,442 of whom are traditional Zone A fishermen,” she said.
Salahuddin also reportedly estimated that 51,184 metric tonnes of marine catch worth RM555 million a year and 511 aquaculture farmers producing 45,742 metric tonnes of marine fishes worth RM1.67 billion would be disrupted by the reclamation.
“This does not include the revenue brought about by recreational fishery operating in the project area, which is estimated to be worth RM 5.3millon per annum, according to the EIA,” she said.
As for the state government’s reasoning that it needed to increase the state’s land bank, Meenakshi said there are now a large property glut in the state.
“So we cannot see any justification for more property development on reclaimed land,” she said.
She said if there was a need for industrial expansion, there were lands available in Seberang Perai.
She said a scaled down PSR will still affect the sensitive environmental ecosystem and there will still be serious adverse socio-economic and environmental impacts that cannot simply be mitigated away.
“In addition, what has not been given due attention is the effect of sea-level rise due to climate change on the viability and sustainability of the PSR project,” she said.
She was commenting on remarks by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow yesterday that the state may scale down the PSR if the state obtained about RM20 billion in funding from the federal government for the LRT and PIL1.
The PSR was a funding module for the PTMP and it was to reclaim three islands covering 4,500 acres on the southern coast of Penang island.
It was to increase the state’s land banks while enable the state to sell some of the lands to raise funds for the PTMP.
