The PAS-led Kedah government will meet NGO leaders to discuss a number of contentious projects in the state, including the planned Kedah Hydrocarbon Hub.

amiruddin hamzah Agriculture, Industry and Investment and Science and Innovation committee head Amiruddin Hamzah said he had already spoken to Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak about the complaints from the NGOs recently.

“I have spoken to Ustaz Azizan, and we will arrange a forum for the groups to air and discuss the issues with us,” Amiruddin, who is PAS’ state assemblyperson for the Anak Bukit constituency, told Malaysiakini.

He said further details of the forum would be ironed out in due time.

Amiruddin was responding to calls by 14 grassroots rural, environmental and social groups on Tuesday for the state government to stick to its promises made before the March 8 general election.

Prominent among them, they said, was PAS Kedah leaders’ pre-election opposition to the hydrocarbon hub project because it would affect the environment and threaten the livelihood of fishermen in the Yan district area.

The mega-project is projected to cost six private investors RM83 billion and will consist of oil storage facilities and refineries built on a 360-hectare man-made island off the Yan district coast and a 320km-long pipeline stretching to Bachok on the eastern coast of Kelantan.

Pakatan gov’t reverses stand

However, since Pakatan Rakyat took power two months ago, the state government has given its blessing to the project.

Amiruddin was reported to have said that the Kedah government will earn about RM200 million a year from the hub once it is up and running.

Clarifying the issue today, Amiruddin said PAS leaders had initially opposed the planned hub - previously known as the Yan Petroleum Industry Zone (Zipy) project - as its investors had first aimed at converting 1,000 hectares of rice fields in Yan for the purpose.

According to the PAS state cabinet member, the project proponents had also rejected the new government’s proposal to relocate the project to Gurun where the Petronas Fertiliser Kedah (PFK) plant is situated

Amiruddin said they had argued that such a move would entail prohibitive operating expenditure costs.

“They told us that they would prefer (forking out) the expenditure to reclaim land at Yan because although it would be expensive, there would be enough and quicker returns to cover the costs as opposed to the opex (operating expenditure) after relocating to Gurun,” he added.

Asked about the March 29 New Straits Times report in which Azizan had earlier protested against any reclamation work off the Yan coast because such work would damage the environment and threaten the livelihood of fishermen, Amiruddin said he has yet to read the report.

On the concerns that the hub would pose health hazards to communities in the area from the petrochemical industrial activities that would take place, Amiruddin pointed out that the country has six existing petroleum refineries.

He said there have been no reports so far that the local communities living at these refineries suffering from high incidence of chronic diseases, leukemia or the birth of premature or deformed babies, he added.

However should the Department of Environment or other authorities reject the project’s environmental or social impact assessment reports, Amiruddin stressed, “The Kedah government will be the first to abide by such directives.”

Quarrying and logging projects

Meanwhile, on the issue of the quarrying and logging projects in Singkir at Gunung Jerai and Sungai Ilir in Bandar Bharu, Amiruddin said the issue is now in the hands of the court and beyond the jurisdiction of the state government.

bukit singkir quarry 300804 quarry The NGOs had hoped the PAS-led government would order these projects be suspended as promised before the election.

Villagers living at the foot of Gunung Jerai have claimed the quarrying and logging activities in the area have led to unprecedented floods and have sought the Alor Star High Court to order the projects to be halted.

Following the High Court judge’s decision to strike out their application on technical grounds, the villagers have since submitted a fresh application.

“We have to seek the advice of our state LA (legal advisor) as to whether or not it is possible to order the quarrying projects stopped. For now, however, it is a bit complicated because we have to wait for the court to decide,” said Amiruddin.

Amiruddin stressed that PAS had a “close relationship” with those NGOs protesting against the projects, and argued that the issues raised are matters “close to our hearts”.

“I think it’s not fair for them to say we have been ignoring their calls or declined to see them. Perhaps we cannot see them as often as before. Being now in government, we do not have the luxury of time as we had enjoyed previously,” he said.