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CAP and SAM welcome federal government’s clarification about Penang reclamation project

  • Publication Date | April 19, 2019
  • Document Type | Media Statement
  • Programmes | Development & Planning
  • Issues | Planning, Reclamation, Transport, Urban Development
  • Tags | MACC, National Physical Planning Council, Penang South Reclamation, PIL1, PSR, PTMP
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CAP and SAM are relieved to read the clarification by Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad that the National Physical Planning Council (NPPC) has not approved the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.

We welcome very much the decision of the NPPC not to approve the reclamation project as yet but to give 18 conditions to the state government, and to ask the state to engage with local communities and ensure their needs are considered.

Yesterday we had expressed dismay about the statement by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow that the NPPC had approved the project with 18 “advices,”  after the NPPC meeting chaired by the Prime Minister.

Now it seems the Chief Minister has jumped the gun and made a misleading statement about the approval by the federal government’s Physical Planning Council.

We very much welcome the clarification by Minister Khalid Samad that in fact “the council did not give any approval or make any decision on the project and instead itgave the state government 18 conditions.”

We also appreciate very much the Minister’s statement that “the state government was also advised to continue engaging with the local community and ensure their needs are given due consideration.”

CAP and SAM together with other NGOs have been very active in analysing the proposed reclamation project as well as other projects like PIL1, the undersea tunnel and paired roads, which together form the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).

We will continue to be active in getting our views known to the state and federal governments and agencies, and to engage with the authorities and the local communities.

We reiterate our view that the reclamation and other projects of the PTMP are very damaging to Penang and Malaysia in the financial, environmental, cultural, heritage and local community aspects.

There are much cheaper, better and environmentally sound ways of improving transport in Penang, instead of the RM46 billion monstrous project proposed by the state government.

We just cannot understand why the projects are so over-priced, and at a time when the country is trying to save money.  For example, the PIL1 highway project is estimated to cost RM8 billion for 20 km of road, or RM400 million per km.  This is far above the RM68 mil per km cost of the revised ECRL federal project and also much above many other highway and road projects in Malaysia.

Obviously the whole transport plan of the state government has to be reviewed from many aspects.

Meanwhile, we urge the Chief Minister not to make any further statements about the projects that are misleading.  In recent days he announced the reclamation project was approved by the federal-level National Physical Planning Council (when it was not), and that the Dept of Environment had approved the EIA for the PIL1 project (although later he admitted the EIA contained faulty information about hill-slopes with the mistakes caused by a computer), and that the MACC had closed a corruption probe against the main company involved in the undersea tunnel project.

Surely it is for these agencies to make any announcements, and not the CM to appear to be a spokesman for the National Physical Planning Council, the Dept of Environment or the MACC anti-corruption agency.

S. M. Mohamad Idris

President

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Testimonials

Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
Hue Fui How
Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
Chedo Anak NyuwenPersatuan Penduduk Sg Buri, Bakong, Marudi
My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
Chee Yoke Ling
Chee Yoke Lingstudent of SAM, Executive Director of Third World Network, SAM’s sister organisation

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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
129A, First Floor,
Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
98058 Marudi, Baram, Sarawak,
Malaysia
Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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