Seven fisherfolk and two environmentalist groups have applied for judicial review to challenge the permission given to the Penang South Island Reclamation Project, citing the loss of livelihood.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) honorary secretary Mageswari Sangaralingam said the nine applicants, including SAM and Jaringan Ekologi Dan Iklim (Jedi), filed the judicial review at the Penang High Court on Dec 29 last year.
The application is to challenge the planning permission given by the Penang state director of Town and Country Planning Department (PlanMalaysia) dated Aug 21, 2023, for the project.
The Penang High Court had on Feb 5 granted leave to the applicants to proceed with the application.
Mageswari said the applicants are suing four respondents - PlanMalaysia Penang state director, Penang State Planning Committee (SPC), Penang state government, and SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd.
“The first applicant, fisher Zakaria Ismail, is bringing the action for and on behalf of himself and the fisherfolk living and/or conducting fishing activities off the coast of Penang Island adversely affected by the project,” she said in a statement.
Low prawn yield
During a press conference today, Zakaria said the “Silicon Island” project had led to a more than 50 percent decrease in live prawn stocks.
While the Chinese New Year season is traditionally associated with higher catches due to the increased demand, he said data showed that there is a huge gap between the number of catches in January 2023 and the same time this year.
“This Silicon Island project, or what we call the ‘fisherfolk’s tears island’, has directly impacted our livelihood,” he lamented.
Zakaria said January 2022 saw a total of 284.54kg catch, which increased a year later to 286.04kg.
“Yet in January 2024, the catch directly fell to 120.91kg, marking a 57.73 percent drop,” said the fishing community leader from Sungai Batu.
In 2021, Zakaria made history when he challenged the first environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval for the project which was then successfully revoked by the Environment Department.
However, in April last year, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow revealed that the department had approved the latest EIA and the project was expected to start in the third quarter of that same year.
Biodiversity impact
Jedi president Khoo Salma Nasution said the project has not only impacted the fishing community but has also hurt the rich biodiversity.
She said before 2019, the group had conducted protests against the project but unfortunately, they had fallen on deaf ears.
“The only thing that will make them listen is the judicial review.
“There are many reclamation projects done and so far no one managed to stop it.
“They already have many islands to develop, so why are they still being greedy to do reclamation projects all over Penang?” she added.
The judicial application will be heard once the court fixes a date during case management this Monday.
Among the grounds mentioned for the application is the respondent's failure to comply with several provisions in the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 including obtaining the advice of the National Physical Planning Council (NPPC) before the approval of the Draft Structure Plan 2030 by SPC and seeking NPPC advice when the application for planning permission was submitted by the Penang state government.
SAM president and lawyer Meena Raman, who will represent the applicants, said the case will be the first time the state government is held accountable.
“We have exploited all avenues,” she said, adding that the state has a public duty to protect biodiversity.
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