GEORGE TOWN, April 7 — Penang still does not have local plans for the island and Seberang Perai in the state 14 years after Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over, Penang Gerakan chairman Oh Tong Keong said today.
He said the local plans contain policies and strategic planning of the state with a more detailed land use map for the Local Planning Authorities.
“It is a statutory plan to ensure controlled and properly planned development for the local governments to refer to but till today, the PH state government has failed to gazette any local plans for the state,” he said in a statement today.
He accused the state government of being ‘pro-developer’, for developing the state without gazetted local plans.
He said the PH state government often announced it would be introducing local plans for the state but till now, not even one has been approved and gazetted.
“This is the reason why there is uncontrolled and haphazard development in Penang today, due to the lack of local plans,” he said.
He said the lack of local plans meant that developers have much bigger space and flexibility to implement projects without needing to comply with guidelines that would have been set in the local plans.
“This shows that the PH state government is only interested in implementing mega projects without caring about environmentally sustainable development and the people’s welfare,” he said.
He was responding to a statement by Penang Citizen Awareness Chant Group advisor, Yan Lee, who had accused the state of failing to reveal the local plans in the 14 years PH has been in power.
Oh accused the state government of trying to strengthen its political agenda in the state by taking the pro-developer approach while ignoring the people’s welfare.
“The housing, local government and town and country planning exco, Jagdeep Singh Deo, should take responsibility for failing to produce the local plans till now,” he said.
He claimed that the lack of local plans was also a way for the state to allow developers to build high rises in land areas meant only for terrace houses.
“I call on the state government and Jagdeep to explain why the local plans have not been revealed till today,” he urged.
The Penang state government gazetted its Penang Structure Plan 2030 on October 24, 2019 and at that time, Jagdeep reportedly said the state was in the midst of preparing the local plans for the island and Seberang Perai.
The draft Seberang Perai local plan was displayed between April 12 and June 11 last year for public feedback.
