PETALING JAYA: An environmental group has called for the release of the letter of approval by the environment department (Doe) for an environmental impact assessment for the massive Penang South Islands reclamation project.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman said the release of 71 conditions alone is not sufficient to understand the basis of the DoE approval for the project.
She said one important aspect missed out was the conduct of a shrimp migration study to understand the impact of the project on the migration of shrimp around the project site.
“This does not appear among the 71 conditions,” she told FMT. “The fisheries authorities had raised this concern before.”
The state government was also urged to have engagement sessions with all stakeholders in order to ensure all the concerns raised by these stakeholders are going to be addressed properly.
“A meaningful engagement (by the state government) will be an improvement in order to ensure all the concerns raised by various stakeholders are being considered in the project implementation,” said social activist Lim Mah Hui.
Earlier today, the state government had made public the 71 conditions imposed by the DoE in the conditional approval given for the reclamation project, which entails the creation of three man-made islands with a land mass of 1,620ha. The islands, covering an area of 17 sq km, will be built off the southern coast, between Permatang Damar Laut and Gertak Sanggul.
The sale of reclaimed land and property will help finance the Penang Transport Master Plan, in which new highways and a transit system would be built.
The Consumers’ Association of Penang has urged the government to cancel the project which they believe will result in the destruction of an important fishery source in the state and it will produce 3.2 million tonnes of carbon emissions per year, in violation of Malaysia’s commitment under the Paris Agreement.
