BATU KAWAN: Reclamation works for the massive Penang South Islands project are expected to begin in the third quarter of this year after an environmental management plan is approved, chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said today.
He said approval of the management plan would take about two months after it is submitted by the state government, Bernama reported.
Chow said the approval is managed at the state level, “but if the environment department feels that the management plan, which we will submit, is still incomplete, they can give us feedback and we will revise and improve it”.
Earlier this week, Chow said the environment department had given conditional approval for the massive reclamation project, which entails the creation of three artificial islands covering a total of 1,700 hectares off the south coast of Penang island.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later said that the approval of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report was not the final stage of the process to allow reclamation to take place.
However Chow said the EIA approval was final, with 71 conditions, and the state government was committed to complying with the stipulated conditions to ensure a smooth approval process for the environment management plan.
“We will present proposals on how to comply with the set conditions and a series of technical meetings will be held for relevant agencies to give feedback to the report prepared by our consultants,” he said.
Among the 71 conditions imposed by the environment department was the implementation of a social impact management plan.
The fishing community of Penang and environmental organisations have objected to the project for its effects on the marine ecosystem and its impact on the fishermen’s way of life.
The state government approved the reclamation project in part to pay for the Penang Transport Master Plan, which includes the construction of three highways and a transit railway.
The first of the three islands, currently identified as Island A, will come up in the waters off Permatang Damar Laut. Construction of the 283-hectare island is expected to take nine years, Chow said earlier this week. - FMT
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