The Protect Karpal Singh Drive Action Committee (ProtectKarpal), representing residents from multiple residential communities in the affected area, extends its heartfelt gratitude to Jelutong MP RSN Rayer for his support in calling for the Penang state government to commission an independent detailed environmental impact assessment for the proposed rehabilitation of the Jelutong landfill and associated 70-acre coastal reclamation project.
His support, announced during a town hall meeting on 4 May, at the community hall of The Spring Condominium, represents a crucial first step in addressing the significant concerns raised by the community regarding the project’s profound and potentially irreversible impacts on health and the environment.
In fact, the urgency and necessity for a truly independent and comprehensive review were starkly highlighted during the town hall itself. The residents’ specific and critical questions regarding the project’s impacts were met with evasive and unsatisfactory responses from the developer’s consultant.
This failure to directly address legitimate concerns raises further alarm about the reliability of the developer’s environmental impact assessment report and the viability of its proposed mitigation measures.
Crucially, the developer’s representatives did not adequately address or ignored several aspects.
- Dodgy mitigation claims: concerns about the practical effectiveness, enforceability and scientific basis of the mitigation strategies proposed in the environmental impact assessment report, especially for noise and air pollution over a 24-year period
- Heightened risks to vulnerable groups: the alarming lack of specific risk assessment for vulnerable populations, including hundreds of children attending nearby schools and kindergartens (like Wesley Methodist School Penang (International)), the elderly, pregnant women and individuals with pre-existing respiratory conditions, who will be disproportionately affected
- Cumulative and synergistic effects: the failure of the environmental impact assessment to assess the combined health and environmental impacts of simultaneous long-term exposure to construction noise, airborne dust, toxic gases (methane, hydrogen sulfide), and potentially harmful microorganisms released from the disturbed landfill waste
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This evasiveness deepens the grave concerns already identified within the developer’s (PLB) own environmental impact assessment report which validates residents’ fears over:
- Unacceptable noise pollution: The predicted noise levels (up to 85.3 dB(A)) in the report far exceed national and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for residential areas, particularly for higher floors where the barrier mitigation method is ineffective. This poses a serious threat to residents’ health and wellbeing over the project’s minimum 24-year timeline.
- Severe air quality degradation: Excavation and recycling of 11.3 million cubic metres of landfill waste on the newly reclaimed site, using up to 20 recycling machines operating 10 hours daily near homes and schools, will release hazardous particulate matter (PM₂.₅, PM₁₀) and toxic gases (methane, hydrogen sulfide), jeopardising public health.
- Traffic gridlock: The project anticipates adding over 91,000 residents, relying on an unrealistic 40% public transport usage assumption, guaranteeing crippling traffic congestion on already strained roads for decades.
- Irreversible ecosystem destruction: The proposed 70-acre reclamation is located at the Middle Bank deep channel, a vital part of the proposed Middle Bank marine sanctuary. Dumping 5.2 million cubic meters of sand will smother critical seagrass beds and marine habitats, contradicting government assurances and ignoring expert warnings about the devastating ecological consequences. Dr Kam Suan Pheng, a respected soil scientist and geospatial expert, pointed out at the meeting a critical geographical error in the environmental impact assessment report (Figure 6.50), where the small Gazumbo Island was incorrectly identified as the entire Middle Bank. This fundamental mistake undermines the report’s credibility and its assessment of impacts on this vital marine ecosystem.
- Flawed mitigation and lack of transparency: The environmental impact assessment’s mitigation strategies appear inadequate, particularly concerning noise and air pollution control and a lack robust enforcement mechanisms. Simple but crucial scientific principles, like noise barrier limitations for high-rise buildings, seem overlooked.
Given these grave risks, the inadequate responses from the developer and the availability of viable alternatives demonstrated globally, ProtectKarpal insists that merely reviewing the current EIA report is insufficient.
ProtectKarpal demands a totally new, independent, comprehensive and transparent environmental impact assessment that encompasses:
- The project necessity: a critical evaluation of whether the 70-acre reclamation is genuinely required for the landfill rehabilitation
- The feasibility of alternatives: a thorough assessment of sustainable, in-situ rehabilitation methods within the existing 90-acre landfill footprint, including using advanced geotechnical solutions and modular recycling technologies, as have been successfully implemented elsewhere
- Multi-disciplinary expertise: the involvement of independent experts in environmental science (marine biology, air quality, acoustics), geotechnical engineering, urban planning, public health, social sciences and socioeconomics, among others
- Specific risk assessments: a detailed evaluation of the risks to vulnerable populations and the cumulative health impacts
- Meaningful community representation: direct involvement of resident representatives and community stakeholders throughout the new environmental impact assessment process
- Full transparency: public access to all data, methodologies, reports and deliberations related to the new environmental impact assessment
“YB Rayer’s support for an independent detailed EIA is a positive development, but the town hall meeting clearly showed the developer isn’t adequately addressing the life-altering risks this project poses, especially to our children and elderly,” ProtectKarpal chair AD Chandrasekaran said.
“We cannot rely on an EIA report that ignores cumulative impacts and vulnerable groups, and developer’s consultants who evade direct questions. We need a truly independent, comprehensive EIA that explores safer, proven alternatives like in-situ rehabilitation before irreversible damage is done.”
ProtectKarpal urges the Penang state government and the relevant authorities to place a moratorium on any project approval or preliminary work until this comprehensive, independent environmental impact assessment is completed and its findings publicly discussed.
We must prioritise long-term environmental health and community wellbeing over potentially unnecessary large-scale coastal development.
ProtectKarpal looks forward to collaborating with the Penang state government and all stakeholders to ensure a new environmental impact assessment process that is thorough and unbiased and that genuinely serves the best interests of the people of Penang and future generations. – ProtectKarpal
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