The Malaysian Insight

SAHABAT Alam Malaysia (SAM) today said it will submit its new publication, Impacts of Coastal Reclamation in Malaysia, to the members of the National Physical Planning Council (MPFN) in a bid to stop reclamation projects, namely the Penang South Reclamation (PSR).

The proposed PSR involves reclaiming man-made islands – 1,821ha in total size – off the southern coast of Penang island.

The new islands will be auctioned off by the state government for developments to finance the multibillion ringgit Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), which features various components like new highways, hill and undersea tunnels, and a light rail transit (LRT) system.

The PSR project is to be presented to MPFN in April this year, but SAM president S.M. Mohamed Idris, who has criticised the PSR project many times in the past, maintains that the reclamation project is “not needed at all”.

He even said the PTMP, which PSR would finance, was “another unjustified project”.

Idris also accused the Penang government of “bulldozing its way to get approvals”.  

“Last week PLANMalaysia director-general Rokibah Abdul Latif was quoted as saying that the PSR was not tabled earlier to the MPFN as the Penang state structure plan (PSP) was still not in place.

“Responding immediately, (local government, housing, town and country planning exco) Jagdeep said the draft PSP 2030 was in its final stages and nearing gazettement.

“A hearing on public feedback on PSP2030 has yet to be carried out and we fear that this exercise would be merely a sham and objections are not seriously considered for revision of the draft PSP,” he said.

Idris also said with the federal government shouldering a RM1 trillion debt, it would also be imprudent from Putrajaya to channel funds to Penang for an “unjustified project”.

“Getting soft loans either locally or from external sources will put us further into debt.”

Last year, the Penang government applied to Putrajaya for a RM1 billion soft loan to kick start the PTMP’s LRT and the Pan Island Link 1 highway projects.

Idris also highlighted the environmental impact of reclamation projects like PSR, again calling on Putrajaya to cancel all coastal reclamation projects nationwide.

He said SAM’s study had found that coastal development and reclamation projects have robbed fishermen and communities of use and access to coastal and marine resources.

SAM’s new publication, he said, details the biological, physical, socio-economic, socio-cultural and other impacts of reclamation in several states like Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor, Pahang and Kelantan.

“Thousands of hectares of fishing grounds and marine habitat have disappeared due to the craze for reclamation. For example in Penang, the (proposed PSR) is neglecting the heavy toll on fishing communities and marine resources.

“The proposed reclamation project will impact the marine food chain and the fishing industry due to total loss of mudflats. Loss of coastal habitat due to this proposed project is a major environmental blow.”

Idris said the PSR environmental impact assessment report itself acknowledged that the wholesale value of fish landed at the study area was estimated at RM42.09 million, which amounted to 12.4% of the total wholesale value of fish landings in Penang Island in 2015.

He said the reclamation could wipe out fishing grounds and would affect fishing business that thousands depended on.

Idris also said the mining of marine sand and aggregates for reclamation and development projects were also on the rise and significantly impacting seabed flora and fauna.

“Dredging and extraction of aggregates from the benthic or sea bottom zone destroys organisms, habitats and ecosystems and deeply affects the composition of biodiversity.”

“Research has shown that these activities lead to a net decline in faunal biomass and abundance or a shift in species composition,” he said.

Idris again urged Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow to review the PSR project, and “responsible authorities” to cancel all planned reclamation projects nationwide. – February 27, 2019.