The Malaysian Insight

THE Penang government was urged today to consider objections and criticisms against the Penang Structure Plan (PSP) 2030 draft seriously, and not conduct public hearings just for the sake of doing so.

Individuals and organisations were invited to speak on the plan, which dictates the state’s development for the next decade, by the state town and country planning department at a forum in Komtar today.

Lim Mah Hui, who represented the critical Penang Forum, said the state should give its reasons for disagreeing with the objections raised by civil society.

“The state should not just follow procedures and hold public hearings. Don’t say you invited the people to come and talk, and you have heard them out.

“If you disagree with what we have said, we hope you will tell us your reasons,” he told reporters after speaking to the department.

The state plans to approve and gazette PSP 2030 in the coming months to move forward developments, including on its ambitious Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) and Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.

No to LRT and monorail

Lim said the Penang Forum was against including the proposed LRT (light rail transit) and monorail projects under the PSP 2030, as the two rail projects had not been approved.

He said the state had not studied or compared the different modes available to select the right mode of public transport for Penang.

“They (LRT and monorail) may have been chosen based on the interests of other parties. The state should look at alternatives that are cheaper, like trams, BRT (bus rapid transit) and ART (autonomous rapid transit),” he said.

Penang Forum has been critical of the PTMP, which also proposed to build several new highways and roads on the island. The civil group has been arguing that building more roads will not solve traffic congestion in the long run, but put more cars on the roads.

Tanjung Bungah residents’ association chairman Meenakshi Raman also said the PTMP should not be gazetted under PSP 2030, as it was still just a proposal yet to be approved.

She asked how PSP 2030 aimed to reduce carbon emissions through green technology when PTMP emphasised more on highways and roads.

“There is urgent need to review and assess all the proposed mega projects under PTMP… whether and how they take into account disaster risks and contribute to climate resilience.

“The PSR reclamation will also destroy Penang’s marine ecosystem and the livelihoods of fishermen, and disrupt the natural hydrological flow of the coastal area that leads to coastal erosion and accretion.

“As the PTMP’s financing model, the PSR must also be scrutinised as it assumes that the state will be able to sell the reclaimed islands. Has the financial model considered market volatility that could impact the land sale?” asked Meenakshi.

Hill slope development

Meenakshi also said the PSP 2030 draft needed to “go back to the drawing board and be thoroughly revised”, citing several flaws, like the projected 2.52% population growth rate for 2014 to 2030, which was higher than the Selangor average and the 1.98 million population projected by the Statistics Department.

She said that without analysis or explanation for the higher figure, the projected population was “seriously questionable” and raised concerns that the over-projection was to justify large-scale projects like the PTMP.

She also said the state should do away with “special project” guidelines that allowed development on hill land above 76m and on 25 degree slopes; and scrap the amendment made on the hill site development restriction clause.

Meenakshi said PSP 2030 should revert to the original clause to ensure that restrictions are not weakened, and gazette all hill sites above 76m and slopes of 25 degree as hill land or environmentally sensitive areas.

Meanwhile, Penang Real Estate and Housing Developers Association chairman Toh Chin Leong said developers agreed with the need for a state housing board.

“We need a centralised agency to monitor the implementation, distribution, maintenance, and enforcement of affordable housing projects.

“This will allow the state to have a comprehensive database that will show us how many projects we need to build. With the statistics, we can determine the supply and demand for such housing projects and prevent oversupply,” he said. – March 6, 2019.