Reject EIA report on Jelutong reclamation, residents tell DOE

Summary

• A residents’ group opposing the Jelutong Rehabilitation and Reclamation Project wants authorities to reject the existing version of its EIA report.

• The Protect Karpal Singh Drive Action Committee claims the report contains misleading information and lacks a crucial health impact assessment.

• They also allege the report excludes the voices of many residents who will be impacted by the project.

A group of Penang residents has urged authorities to reject a developer’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the Jelutong Rehabilitation and Reclamation Project.

In a statement, the Protect Karpal Singh Drive Action Committee claimed the report was flawed and contained misleading information about the extent of pollution impacts on people’s health and the environment.

According to committee spokesperson Dr K Ganesh, the report had omitted a health impact assessment for the project’s proposed open-air waste recycling operation located adjacent to residential areas, schools and recreational areas.

“The developer’s failure to include a health impact assessment is not an oversight - it’s a direct violation of Malaysian environmental law.

“The Environment Department (DOE) has clear legal authority and constitutional obligation to reject this incomplete and non-compliant proposal,” he said.

In February, DOE published the EIA for the project, which is meant to rehabilitate a 40-year-old landfill and rejuvenate the area for other land use, stretching 160 acres (64.7ha).

This includes 90 acres where the landfill is and 70 acres via reclamation, according to the EIA published on Feb 12 and was open for public feedback until March 22.

No safe closure plan

Ganesh claimed the EIA had no certified safe closure plan for the Jelutong landfill despite being adjacent to schools and thousands of homes.

“Open-air flaring and passive venting of landfill gas are fundamentally inadequate for safe rehabilitation of an urban 90-acre landfill of this scale and proximity.

“Open-air waste recycling and using landfill waste for reclamation, without safe closure and long-term management, would compound pollution, gas, and leachate risks,” he said.

The committee further claimed that the EIA survey had “systematically” excluded many residents in the primary impact zone, and conducted zero public engagement sessions with affected high-rise communities.

The committee also raised concerns over the project’s impact on the Middle Bank, which is Penang’s last natural seagrass meadow and a habitat for over 400 marine species.

Malaysiakini had previously reported scientists’ concerns over the rehabilitation project’s impact on marine ecosystems at the Penang Straits.

In response to this, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow claimed the proposal to reclaim land off Karpal Singh Drive, which is part of the rehabilitation project, will not endanger the Middle Bank marine sanctuary.

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