He said the final approval for Silicon Island was in the form of an environmental management plan (EMP) by the department of environment (DoE).
Silicon Island is expected to be a 930ha urban development, in the waters near the Penang International Airport runway, and will take nine years to complete.
The DoE at federal level had previously approved the project in April with 71 conditions, but the actual project could not begin without an EMP by Penang’s DoE.
In thanking the state DoE, Chow said Penang was committed to following environmental and local community safety standards.
He said the affected fisherfolk would receive a 75% portion of their promised ex-gratia payment, to be credited in phases from today until early next year.
He also said 600 job opportunities on land and sea would be offered first to the affected fishermen and local communities in the next 18 months.
Govt still hasn’t heard appeal, say civil groups
Penang civil society groups have, however, reiterated that the reclamation is not necessary and that the prime minister should intervene.
In a statement today, the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) said the reduction from three reclaimed islands to one was not good enough.
They said the justification for extra land to expand economic activities did not hold water, as Seberang Perai already has plenty.
The state government had previously argued the mainland has unsuitable land sizes for large-scale, high-value industries.
“Destroying a vital ecosystem that is bio-diverse and cannot be replaced is simply unjustifiable,” CAP’s Mohideen Kader and SAM’s S Mageswari said in a joint statement.
“The government has professed to act in the interest of ensuring social justice, but ignoring the strenuous objections from the official fishermen’s association goes in the wrong direction of good governance and a caring government.
“The fishermen have also challenged the approval of the environmental impact assessment report, but no hearing date has been fixed to date by the appeals board set up under the Environmental Quality Act 1974.”
A 2019 DoE approval for three reclaimed islands was rescinded after the DoE appeals board allowed an appeal by the fishermen’s unit over a technicality. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the project would be reduced to a single island.
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