State Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the two reports are for the marine risk analysis (MRA), which was approved by the Marine Department, and the hydraulics study, which was approved by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID).
In providing updates on the reports that have been approved, Chow said many reports had to be prepared to support the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
“As far back as Aug 8, when the department met to deliberate on the analysis, it had agreed to the MRA tabled for the project. It is very good news.
“In essence, this report deals with how reclamation is to be done, safety measures to be taken by the project contractor, and how to ensure the seaway is free from obstruction so that there will be no accidents,” he told a press conference here today.
As for the hydraulics study, Chow said the state received approval from the federal DID on July 18, after evaluation by the department.
However, Chow said the two approvals were still insufficient, and they were awaiting approval for three other reports, namely on the social impact assessment, fisheries impact assessment and traffic impact assessment.
Chow reiterated that the state government was doing things according to the laws and regulations of the country.
“We do not intend to start reclamation without approval. We will not do that,” he added.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, during his visit to Penang recently, had said the Penang South Reclamation project would harm marine resources and affect fishermen’s income as well as result in a change in status of the country’s continental shelf.
The federal minister had been repeatedly demanding that the state government stop reclaiming land from the sea off Penang.
The Penang government had since been engaged in a back-and-forth verbal tussle with Junaidi, telling him no reclamation work would be carried out without the approval of the DoE.
The three islands planned under the reclamation project are meant to fund the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan.
Under the plan, highways, a light-rail transit line and a monorail line will be built by the state government with the help of SRS Consortium, as the project delivery partner.
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