Tanjung Bungah Residents’ Association treasurer Zulfikar Abdul Aziz said at a time where more employees had ditched office spaces and were working from their homes, it remains uncertain if major land expansion projects were a good idea.
This was after Penang infrastructure and transportation committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said in an independent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that the reclamation project would attract RM70 billion in foreign investments and create 30,000 jobs in a span of 30 years.
In a statement today, Zulfikar said Zairil, who is also Tanjung Bungah assemblyman, should reveal PwC’s findings to the public to back up his claim.
He said Zairil appeared oblivious to the current realities and the fact that the PSR had been proven to have serious environmental and financial consequences.
Zulfikar also said the Penang government should take the current pandemic as a watershed moment as business models change and green spaces would be a higher priority in combating climate change.
“Penang needs to see this as a watershed moment in history that marks the end of a traffic-jam era and usher in a new one. The business models for delivering infrastructure will need to change whereby parks, trails and other green spaces need to take higher priority.
“It is obvious that employees have ditched their commutes and office spaces, and switched to working from their homes.
“Perhaps it is time for the state to rethink the PSR, as the changes in our climate and the repercussions of this pandemic are going to require more creative thinking about urban infrastructure,” he said.
Zulfikar said the recent call by Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar to call off the PSR was a good move and lent credence to Penangites’ protest against the project over the years.
Recently, Nurul Izzah had asked the environmental regulators to revoke earlier approvals of the project and focus on post-pandemic recovery.
The PSR is Penang’s plan to reclaim three islands and later sell them to fund the RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan.
Recently, the Penang government said it would allow a private company to reclaim one of the islands, but with ownership rights to the state. It has insisted that the project is essential to support the growing demand for industrial land.