The residents of Pengerang in Johor can initiate a judicial review to challenge the construction of the RM60 billion Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project, with the High Court granting them leave to do so today.

The decision was granted by Justice Zaleha Yusof after the court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed the preliminary objection raised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

azlan The objection was on the grounds that it was filed out of time and was frivolous and vexatious.

A lawyer representing the Pengerang residents, Mohd Hanipa Maidin, said, “We argued that the application was not filed out of time.

"The judge agreed that the application was not frivolous and granted the leave."

Following this, the court fixed April 4 for case management.

Mohd Hanipa is a PAS central committee member.

A judicial review application is a two-stage process where leave (permission) must be obtained before the full application on a matter is heard. 

On Jan 9, four families from Pengerang filed the judicial review in a bid to stop the acquisition of their lands.

The four families are led by Sutinah Abu, Loh Back Seng, Lim Boo Kia and Khariah Md Yunus.

They argued that the move to acquire their lands exceeded the authority accorded in the Land Acquisition Act 1960.

Under the Land Acquisition Act, the party that has the power to take over lands is the ‘state authority’,  Mohd Hanipa argued.

 “If you look at Section 2 of the Act, ‘state authority’ means the sultan.

“So, the question is, has the Sultan of Johor consented to the land acquisition? We do not know. Based on the documents, it is the state government (that has consented),” Mohd Hanipa said of the application filed by the residents.