In a protest here, the fishermen said they did not want “even a single island” to be built, urging Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to heed their call.

On Thursday, Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said the project would be reduced to 2,300 acres (930ha) on a single island south of the Penang International Airport runway, compared with the original plan of three islands covering 4,500 acres.

Chow reportedly said Anwar had urged the state government to reduce the scale of the project.

Chow said the reduction meant only 115 fishermen from Permatang Tepi Laut facing the reclaimed island would be affected, as opposed to 496 if the three islands were built through the reclamation project.

Ibrahim Che Rose, chairman of the Penang Fishermen’s Association (Pen Mutiara), said Anwar had in 2019 promised to fight for the rights of fishermen.

He said if the fishermen’s demand to cancel the project fell on deaf ears, they would gather at the Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur and submit a memorandum to agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu.

“We (fishermen) and the rakyat hope that the prime minister will listen to our woes.

“Fishermen are a vital part of the country’s development. Don’t abandon the fishermen,” he said.

Fishermen Association of Southern Penang chairman Arshad Omar echoed Ibrahim’s call for the project’s cancellation.

He said the single-island project alone would take up 40% of the bay of the southern part of the island, which would affect their operations.

Earlier today, hundreds of fishermen along with their supporters from the community and NGOs took part in a protest against the project near the Sungai Batu jetty here.