Highway plan threatens Penang’s precious green lung

By Katharine Chua

The Penang state government’s proposed RM2.9bn ‘North Coastal Paired Road’ (NCPR) – a 10.6km highway cutting through the hills from Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang – has sparked an outcry.

The proposal feels short-sighted, hazardous and environmentally unfriendly. It seems to pander to a ‘development’ playbook that does not prioritise human and natural habitats.

It appears to be a car-centric, concrete and developer-focused plan – one of many rolling out throughout Penang. This represents an outdated way of viewing progress and development.

The manner in which it has come to the community’s attention has been high-handed and top-down. I am not aware of any stakeholder or community engagement that was held. This has left us all feeling uncomfortable and concerned.

Presenting the construction of this one highway as a complete solution is painfully short-sighted. The project lacks any context of overall traffic management plans, public transport upgrades, traffic light management, laws and levies, or upcoming projects and overall development plans.

Instead, it comes at an irreconcilable cost – monetarily and through the destruction of our natural habitat.

This project was presented to the people via a flashy video that went viral early this year. It is supposed to provide an alternative to the often-congested Batu Ferringhi Road.

But it is completely inadequate in addressing the main concerns of the mess that Batu Ferringhi is in currently.

Have all the quicker, easier solutions been considered? For example, what about installing smart traffic lights at key junctions like Uplands–Holiday Inn, Sungai Emas–Holiday Inn and the Floating Mosque?

What is the basis for allowing big projects like Ferringhi Bay to proceed without any upgrade of the access road? This is now causing traffic congestion in the area almost every weekend.

A much longer discussion is needed about public transport needs.

In short, we do not see from the Penang state government a genuine commitment to reducing cars on the road and rethinking the whole transport ecosystem for the island.

We need a plan that respects communities and neighbourhoods and their commutes to work. A plan that respects our environment, local businesses and the tourists who visit our beautiful island.

Batu Ferringhi leading to Teluk Bahang and onward to Balik Pulau is the green lung of the island. A highway of this size will tear through this green lung and fragment wildlife, destroy biodiversity, destabilise already unstable hill slopes, and pollute waterways. 

The hills of Teluk Bahang and Batu Ferringhi are part of the ‘transition area’ under the Penang Hill Biosphere Reserve, which Unesco recognised in 2021.

With two Unesco-listed sites in Penang, the state has a unique advantage. It could be a model city showing the world how cities can be nurtured and developed sustainably.

These accolades are a huge tourism boost. Surely, the responsibility of carrying these titles should call for a greater vision for island development that upholds the values that heritage and biosphere reserves demand.

Tourism is a major economic driver for Penang. As a significant tourism player, Tropical Spice Garden has welcomed 60,000–70,000 visitors per year since 2003. Many of these visitors explore Batu Ferringhi–Teluk Bahang as part of their ‘green belt’ experience of Penang. They typically choose to stay in hotels in the vicinity and immerse themselves in the green forested beauty and beaches of this part of the island.

Together with the total occupancy of the Batu Ferringhi hotels, this amounts to millions of visitors per year.

Local ecological-based academics and researchers have used Tropical Spice Garden as a study and research site for the last 23 years we have been here. From bat to frog to primate-based research, the results consistently indicate the richness in biodiversity that sustains a healthy and complete ecosystem. This includes Class I–II grade water flowing through the vicinity of the area we occupy.

About 70% of this highway will cut through the hills. Running a dual carriageway highway through these ecologically sensitive and protected areas will cause irreversible damage to their fragile ecosystems. These areas are natural carbon sinks with rich biodiversity – and, at the heart of it, our homeland.

Unofficial reports from returning visitors to Batu Ferringhi reveal that the area’s allure is fast fading. They see haphazard planning, the concreting of the area, and the traffic congestion.

The visitor experience to the gardens will now be ruined with the alignment of the highway cutting right on the border of the property.

Penang has such a wonderful opportunity to model a city that truly ‘has it all’. We are asking for a greater vision for the island we call home – one that honours the built-up and natural heritage of the land and the various communities, young and old. We want to hang on to our traditions whilst forging our own unique way into the future.

Above all, we the people seek engagement and dialogue with the state. There are many brilliant local thinkers who could work together with the expertise and ability of the state to create a truly sustainable and beautiful island.

We appeal to the state to halt all major projects before local engagement takes place. A local plan must be put in place that protects all these interests.

Katharine Chua, a resident of Batu Ferringhi, is the owner of Tropical Spice Garden in Teluk Bahang, Penang

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