Anti-PGCC Group calls for public debate by candidates

In
response to the welcome announcement by the Penang Chief Minister on
17January that the state government has directed that the proposed PGCC
project be reviewed and scaled down, the PGCC Campaign Group urgently
calls on BN and Opposition candidates to debate the issues raised by
the PGCC mega project.

 

The
Chief Minister’s acknowledgement of the level of public concern and
the timing of his announcement on the eve of the general election
underlines the critical importance of the issues raised by this
project and exposed by the PGCC Campaign Group. These issues include
social impact, environmental degradation, traffic congestion, and
pollution, but most of all the project – and the way it has been
promoted — highlights the weakness of the local planning process
which ignored the need for full public consultation. 

The PGCC
Campaign Group has made its position clear, namely that merely
scaling down the project is not enough. There needs to be a
moratorium on all such large-scale projects until a local plan has
been drafted and made available for public scrutiny as required by
law. 

The people of Penang deserve nothing less if economic growth
and social development are to be sustainable. They have a right to
know the views of the candidates on these important issues before
they go to the polls on 8March.

The PGCC Campaign Group, therefore, calls on candidates from
the Barisan Nasional and the Opposition to debate these issues openly
in a public forum before the election. Unwillingness to do so will
force voters to draw their own conclusions about the positions of the
political parties and the candidates on these issues of crucial
public importance.

PGCC
Campaign Group –

• Consumers
  Association of Penang (CAP)
• Sahabat
  Alam Malaysia (SAM)
• Penang
  Heritage Trust (PHT)
• Aliran
• Malaysian
  Nature Society (MNS)
• Suara
  Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram)
• Citizens
  For Public Transport (Cepat)
• Jesselton
  Heights Residents Association
• Residents
  Association of Jesselton
• Tanjung
  Bungah Residents Association
• Badan
  Warisan Malaysia
• Friends
  of the Penang Botanic Gardens