KUALA LUMPUR – Seven fishermen and two environmental groups have been granted leave by the court in their bid to stop the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, which they say will damage livelihoods and destroy the natural environment.
The Penang High Court on February 5 granted the fishermen, led by Zakaria Ismail of the Sg Batu fishing community, and the groups, Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Jaringan Ekologi dan Iklim, to proceed with their judicial review against authorities’ permission for the project, a joint statement by the groups and fishermen today said.
Their application for judicial review was filed at the Penang High Court on December 29 and named the Penang director of the Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia), Penang State Planning Committee, the Penang state government and developer SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd as respondents.
The applicants are requesting the court to void the planning permission granted by PLANMalaysia on August 21 of last year, on grounds that it violates provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976.
Until the outcome of their challenge is decided, the applicants also want the court to stay the planning permission, all other processes and reclamation works for the project.
“The project impacts are already being seen and felt by the fishers in this case,” the groups and fishermen said in their statement.
Case management has been fixed for February 19 when the court will decide on a date to hear the stay application.
In their judicial review filing, the fishermen and groups said the state authorities failed to follow the Town and Country Planning Act 1976, by, among others, obtaining advice from the National Physical Planning Council (NPPC) for the PSR prior to the approval of the Draft Structure Plan 2030.
This was a “serious error of law” as the Structure Plan 2020 that was in force when the PSR masterplan was referred to the NPPC did not provide for the reclamation project.
Another alleged violation is the respondents’ failure to amend the Structure Plan 2030 to reflect the scaled down version of the PSR from three islands to one, thus denying the applicants the chance to provide feedback and objections.
The applicants also contend there was no completed environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the PSR when the planning permission was granted by PLANMalaysia Penang.
Lastly, the applicants also hold that the adverse environmental and social impacts of the PSR and “irretrievable destruction” to fishermen’s livelihood in the area have not been taken into account adequately by the Environment Department director-general in approving the EIA report, nor by PLANMalaysia Penang in granting planning permission.
Other demands they are seeking include an order of certiorari to quash the decision granting the planning permission to commence reclamation works, and an order for the state and SRS to immediately restore all damage to the area where work has begun.
Additionally, they are seeking damages to be assessed by the court for all fishermen represented by the applicants for loss of income.
The scope of the PSR project was scaled down from three man-made islands to one in May last year following strong opposition from fishermen and green groups.
Project approval had been delayed in 2021 when Zakaria successfully challenged the project’s first EIA report, which was revoked by the Environment Department.
A second EIA report submitted by the state was approved in April last year, before the project was scaled down to one island the following month. The project was also renamed to Penang South Island. – February 14, 2024