Residents blast quarry activities in their backyard

 

Pictures of some of the damaged portions of homes that have been sent to the Penang authorities.

GEORGE TOWN: A granite quarry has been causing sleepless nights for some 8,000 residents at a suburb in Sungai Ara, with explosions and tremors shaking their homes since early this year.

The residents, who moved in five years ago, were told that the quarry has been dormant and would soon make way for a bungalow project.

However, since February, the digging and detonation work from the quarry site had caused roof tiles, walls and floors to crack.

Now, they want the authorities to stop the blasting work.

Besides structural damage, there was dust and noise pollution. Lorries carrying materials to and from the quarry have also suffered mishaps – flipping over a hill and another crashing into a traffic light, residents told FMT.

One resident, Askin Meera, 55, said the tremors from the quarry became more frequent and more intense since February, after a rather quiet last five years.

He said the residents’ associations of Setia Pearl Island, Setia Pulau Mutiara 3 and Stramax Residence had written to the chief minister for help last month after a two-year discussion with local representatives, a Penang official and the quarry operator fell through.

Askin said that under present environment department guidelines, a minimum 500m buffer was required between a quarry and any residential area. Their homes are less than 150m from the quarry.

He said there were three landslips at the same hill site about four weeks ago near Persiaran Nuri.

“My house is less than 100m away from the quarry fencing. Last week, flying rocks from the quarry hit the roof of a neighbour’s house.

“We didn’t know a quarry existed there when we bought this place as it was dormant. We saw a signboard showing that the site would be developed for bungalows,” he told FMT.

At a meeting, a Penang exco man had told the residents that the quarry had been in existence in the 1990s and they were told to “live with them”.

In the same meeting, the protesting resident told the exco man that under the 2018 Penang quarry rules, the state had the powers to revoke licences given to operators. FMT is withholding the name of the exco man pending comment.

Among the documents the residents shared were letters from the quarry operator showing that they have applied to JMG for blasting work on the site. Penang officials then said the government will look into “limiting the blasting strength”.

FMT has contacted Penang government officials, the JMG and local reps for comment. - FMT