He said he could not see what positive impact the project would have on Penang’s Malay populace, and on Umno itself.
The insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Perikatan Nasional would attempt to politicise the reclamation project with a racial slant to woo support from Malay voters at the coming elections.
PN would try to tarnish the image of both Umno and PH by claiming that their Malay leaders had failed to defend the fishing community, “despite the fact that the fishing community does not consist only of Malays” , he told FMT.
The insider said the state government’s announcement of the project approval was wrongly timed, coming soon before the state assembly elections are due, as the project would adversely impact Umno due to the potential manipulation of the issue by PN.
“By right, the chief minister should have picked the right time to announce the approval. Although it would not impact the 25 non-Malay majority seats, the 15 Malay-majority seats would be affected.
Loss of those seats to PN would cause the DAP-led state government to lose its two-thirds majority in the state assembly, he said.
He urged federal and state government leaders to explain in detail how the project would benefit Penangites economically. He said the adverse effects on the fisheries and other sectors had been well-publicised.
“We can expect rejection from the Malay voters when this issue is being played up and it is not properly explained by the federal and state governments,” added the insider.
The project involves the reclamation of three islands, covering a total of 1,620ha, off the southern coast, between Permatang Damar Laut and Gertak Sanggul. The sale of reclaimed land and property would help finance the state government’s Penang Transport Master Plan, in which new highways and a transit system would be built.
Last week, chief minister Chow Kon Yeow hinted that the project is unlikely to affect PH at the coming elections as the mega project, first proposed in 2013, did not affect PH in the two general elections since then.
The conditional environmental approval of the project came amid opposition from the fishing community and environmental groups who said that the project would severely damage the marine ecosystem off the southern coast.
We are not politicising PSI issue, says PN
Penang PN chairman Dominic Lau said that the coalition is neither politicising nor taking advantage of the project’s approval.
He said PN would be merely exercising its function as the opposition by highlighting the concerns of the fishermen and NGOs that have reached out to the coalition about the project.
Lau said an accusation of politicising the issue would only arise if the public did not have a problem with the project.
“But the people have shown their dissatisfaction, through demonstrations and appeals by fishermen and environmental NGOs. These are the facts,” Lau said.