Reclamation project has majority support in Penang, says CM

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today the Penang South Islands (PSI) reclamation project has had the support of a majority of the people in Penang since it first started in 2013.

The project, previously known as Penang South Reclamation (PSR), had gone through an eight or nine-year-long approval process before it finally obtained the green light from the environmental impact assessment (EIA), he said.

"Even during the election, we laid it on the table, in the manifesto as well as for the people to decide, and they have decided. The majority have decided to support the PSI," he told reporters today.

Yesterday, Chow announced that the EIA report for the PSI project has obtained approval from the Department of Environment (DoE) under the natural resources, environment and climate change ministry.

Meanwhile, when asked about the opposition to the PSI project from the environmental and fishermen groups, Chow said the state had always been open on this project and it has got nothing to hide.
 
He explained that the state cannot stop any party, whether a political party or non-governmental organisation (NGO), from politicising the matter.

It was reported yesterday that Sahabat Alam Malaysia has appealed to the authorities to reveal the 71 conditions imposed by the DoE for the EIA approval of the PSR project.

Chow said the 71 conditions were on Sections A to Q and further information about the project can be obtained from the Penang infrastructure corporation website.

"The conditions imposed by the DoE are contained in the approval annex given," he said.

The PSI is a project aimed at developing three artificial islands, with an area of approximately 1,700 hectares in the waters of Permatang Damar Laut, near Bayan Lepas.

However, the project received objections from the fishing community and environmental NGOs in the state because it is alleged to affect the marine ecosystem.