‘Don’t make stupid statements’, a tired Penang exco man tells Junaidi

GEORGE TOWN: Fed up with repeated claims that Penang was reclaiming land offshore illegally, a Penang exco man has told Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar not to come out with “stupid statements”.

State executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said despite denying Junaidi’s claim that Penang had started reclaiming three islands in the south, Junaidi continued to imagine otherwise.

“This is Penang, not Kedah, where they can get away with murder by reclaiming land without permission from the authorities.

“Penang is a law-abiding state. We will not start reclamation work without necessary approvals and environmental impact assessments (EIA) beforehand.

“The minister has said he will be fair, we welcome that. However, based on the various statements he has put out, he does not appear to be fair at all.

“We urge the minister to look at all the documents sent by Penang to the Department of Environment (DoE) under him to get an informed view of the project.

“(Don’t) continue to make stupid statements whenever he is in Penang or when he is asked about his views on the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.

“What a pity that Junaidi could not pay a visit to his former Dewan Rakyat friends, such as me, to get an explanation,” Chow, who is a former three-term Tanjong MP, told reporters in Komtar here today.

On the Kedah remark, Chow was referring to the RM1.2 billion Aman Laut project off Kuala Kedah, dubbed the “Dubai of Kedah” by The Star, which had taken off without an EIA report. The DoE has since issued a stop-work order on it.

Junaidi, during his visit to Penang recently, had said the PSR would harm marine resources and affect the fishermen’s income as well as result in a change in the country’s continental shelf.

The federal minister had been repeatedly demanding that the state government stop reclaiming land from the sea off Penang.

The Penang government had since been engaged in a back-and-forth verbal tussle with Junaidi, telling him no reclamation work would be carried out without the approval of DoE.

The PSR’s planned three islands are meant to fund the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan. Under the plan, highways, a light-rail transit line and a monorail line will be built by the state government with the help of SRS Consortium as project delivery partner.

Chow also said Junaidi’s claim that the PSR would cross into international borders and would also “shift the continental shelf” of the country was not true.

He said the project was very far away from the international borders and there was no concern about shifting continental shelves as the waters were very shallow, at -3.5 metre CD (chart datum).

A map showing each state’s maritime boundaries.

“It is quite perplexing since Junaidi says he is agreeable to reclamation projects in Johor and Melaka, when those projects are fringing the waters of Singapore and Indonesia,” Chow said.

Chow also laughed at Junaidi’s suggestion that the reclamation project would “create a new coastline”, which he said was a no-brainer.

He said any reclamation project would definitely create a new coastline and Junaidi had made it sound negative.

Chow said Penang has had its coastline altered many times in its history since the 1900s, citing examples such as Weld Quay, the Jelutong coastal road, Bayan Mutiara, Queensbay, and the Batu Maung areas which were reclaimed.

On claims that fishermen’s livelihood would be affected and marine life reduced in the PSR area, Chow said it was “incorrect”.

He said the reclamation would affect a small group of fishermen but they would still have a large area to fish while the project was ongoing.

“Statistics show the catch had dropped by 20% and the general interest in becoming a fisherman has declined. We have found even the fishermen’s children do not want to continue this vocation.

“A study at the south of Penang Island showed the fishermen earn about RM1,600 on average per month from fishing, which is the lowest income group among local villagers in the south of the island.” -FMT