GEORGE TOWN, March 28 — Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today the proposal to reclaim land off Karpal Singh Drive along with rehabilitation of the nearby Jelutong landfill will not encroach into the middle bank marine sanctuary.
He said the state had ensured that the proposed project does not go into the area identified as the middle bank marine sanctuary.
“We have identified the area before this,” he said in reply to a question on the middle bank marine sanctuary during a press conference at his office in Komtar here.
The middle bank marine sanctuary spreads around 10 square kilometres in the waters of the South Channel between Penang island and the mainland.
It is home to the only seagrass bed in the Straits of Malacca and a study has revealed that a total 429 species of seagrass, trees, vegetation, fish, birds, marine mammals, turtles, molluscs, arthropods, and echinoderms were found there.
Chow said the proposed reclaimed land will connect to the existing land on Karpal Singh Drive.
He said the Jelutong landfill rehabilitation and reclamation project is pending an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval from the Department of Environment (DoE).
“Public display for the EIA is now ongoing so the public, individuals, and organisations are encouraged to submit their views and feedback for DoE’s consideration,” he said.
He said the Jelutong landfill, that was opened as a waste disposal site since the 1990s, will be rehabilitated where the waste recovered from the site will either be recycled or sent to the temporary waste disposal centre in Pulau Burung.
“After it is rehabilitated, the land will be used for mixed development project,”
“Under an agreement with the concessionaire, the state government and Penang Development Corporation will receive a portion of the rehabilitated land,” he said.
Chow said the existing Jelutong landfill is between 80 and 90 acres (36 ha) but the total land will include the reclaimed land.
“The state will get 20 to 30 per cent of the total land area, including the reclaimed land,” he said.
He said the concessionaire will be bearing the full costs of the reclamation and rehabilitation project, so it will get a larger portion of the land.
It was earlier reported about 30ha of land will be reclaimed off Karpal Singh Drive under the project.
“The rehabilitation will take about five to six years to complete,” he said.
He said the project is yet to start as it is still pending approval of the EIA by DoE.
PDC signed a deal with PLB Engineering Bhd to rehabilitate and develop the Jelutong landfill at a cost of RM1 billion back in 2020.
The DoE issued a public notice on the proposed rehabilitation and reclamation project on its Facebook on February 12 this year.
