Better not to reclaim 3 islands at all, SAM tells Penang govt

SAM president Meenakshi Raman.

GEORGE TOWN: Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) today said Penang’s offer to cut back on the size of the reclaimed islands in return for federal funding for a highway and a Light Rail Transit (LRT) project is not going to help avert lasting environmental damage.

SAM president Meenakshi Raman said skipping the reclamation altogether might avert environmental damage and protect fishery resources.

Yesterday, the Penang government said it would consider cutting back on its project to reclaim three islands, covering a total area of 1,821ha, down south if Putrajaya foots the bill for a planned highway (costing RM7.5 billion) and a LRT project (expected to cost RM8.5 billion).

Penang plans to sell the land on the artificially-created islands to fund its RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).

In a statement today, Meenakshi said the reclamation project, formally known as Penang South Reclamation (PSR), ought to be scrapped and the PTMP, which it funds, ought to be reviewed.

“Scaling down of the PSR will still affect the very sensitive environmental ecosystem and there will still be a serious adverse socio-economic and environmental impact that cannot be mitigated.

“As we have stressed before, destroying our precious fishery resources, which are vital for our food security for the present and future generations, does not make sense.

“Moreover, any reclamation will still require sand-mining and dredging. This will also pose additional environmental impact.

“Any reclamation there cannot bring back losses to the ecosystem.”

Furthermore, she said the rising sea levels had not been given due attention as it would affect the viability and sustainability of the PSR project.

Meenakshi said if Penang needs more land, there was plenty of it on mainland Seberang Perai. She said there are many unsold properties in the state and the excuse that there is need for more property development does not hold water.

She also said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub had told Parliament recently that nearly 5,000 fishermen would be affected, with 51,184 tonnes of catch valued at RM555 million a year disrupted due to the reclamation.

Meenakshi said the other matter of concern was the building of the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) highway, saying it would ruin the island’s charm and would be an “ugly monstrosity”.

“We have raised issues about the justification for such a highway at a colossal cost of RM8 billion for this PIL1. This is a gross wastage of public resources that is not a long-term solution to our traffic woes.

“This is why SAM and other concerned civil society groups have consistently called for an independent review of the PTMP so that a better plan, which is much cheaper, better and environmentally sustainable, to solve our traffic woes.

“It is time for an independent and fair review of the PTMP and for the PSR to be scrapped. There can be no better solution than this.” - FMT