Penang reclamation goes ahead after 'dismayed' fisherfolk lose case

The Penang government said it will go ahead with plans to build its artificial island project after a judicial review by fisherfolk and NGOs against the project was dismissed yesterday.

Expressing his “delight”, state executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari said this showed the government complied with all legal processes and required assessments.

“Hence, the Penang Silicon Island project will go ahead without any obstructions in conformity to all guidelines and laws to meet the completion of the project,” he said in a statement.

He also said the project - now known as the Penang Silicon Island - promises to create 220,000 jobs for Penangites and has the potential to generate RM1.1 trillion in gross domestic product.

His statement comes as fisherfolk and NGOs, who filed the judicial review, expressed their “dismay” over the court decision, which they said would lead to “irreversible loss to the ecosystem” and the livelihoods of the fisherfolk.

The applicants, which include Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and Jaringan Ekologi Iklim (Jedi), said they will appeal the judicial review decision.

“While expressing their respect for the decision of the court, the applicants who are mainly fisherfolk impacted by the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project feel dejected that their pleas and complaints have been ignored, and their rights disregarded.

“According to the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report, the PSR will cause permanent and irreversible loss to the ecosystem. Apart from this, the lives and livelihoods of the coastal fishers in the southern part of Penang will also be adversely affected.

“The applicants will be filing an appeal against this decision in due course,” SAM honorary secretary Mageswari Sangaralingam and Jedi president Khoo Salma Nasution said in a joint statement.

Review filed ‘out of time’

The nine applicants, led by Zakaria Ismail, six other fisherfolk and the NGOs, filed a judicial review application to challenge the planning permission granted to the Penang government by the State Town and Country Planning Department.

The respondents to the judicial review were the Town and Country Planning Department (PlanMalaysia) director, the State Planning Committee, the Penang government, SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd and Silicon Island Development Sdn Bhd.

Among others, they submitted that the respondents failed to comply with the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 including failing to obtain the advice from the National Physical Planning Council (NPCC) before it approved the Draft Structure Plan 2030.

The applicants also said the respondents “committed serious error of law” when the project master plan was referred to the NPCC before the Draft Structure Plan 2030 had come into legal effect.

They added that the respondents did not include alterations to the structure plan when they announced that the project was scaled down from three to one island.

They further said the EIA was not yet completed when PlanMalaysia Penang granted the planning permission for the project.

They also submitted that the EIA report recorded the negative impact on the lives and livelihoods of fisherfolk in the area, but this was not taken into account adequately.

The High Court, however, dismissed the application and found the application was filed out of time, and that by then, the respondents had already complied with the Town and Country Planning Act 1976.

The court also agreed with the respondents that there was no need to amend the plan to remove the two islands because they were merely shelved and not cancelled indefinitely.

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