New EIA on Penang highway project needed

PETALING JAYA (September 20): The Department of Environment (DoE) has been asked to conduct a new environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) highway project.

Penang activist Anil Netto, was quoted by Free Malaysia Today as saying that the DoE should reject the current EIA for the project in light of the numerous complaints against it.

Penang Forum member Kam Suan Pheng, who is a soil scientist, has said that the tunnels for the proposed PIL 1 highway would cross fragile granitic fault lines.

Kam said the EIA report lacks proper risk analysis, and contains dubious data, assumptions and unverifiable claims.

Netto, speaking to the news portal, said the highway would “change Penang as we know it”, affecting the air quality of surrounding schools and houses, cause increased noise pollution, and cause two popular parks to degrade.

“It’s totally unnecessary,” he was quoted saying. “If we improve public transport, we won’t need all these highways.”

Co-founder and CEO of the Ecotourism & Conservation Society of Malaysia Andrew Sebastian said: “Instead of investing in or talking about integrated public transport for the island, we are now faced with tunnels and billion-dollar projects that don’t seem to solve the problem of over-congestion on the island.

“My view is this project should be reviewed and shelved.”

Transport expert Goh Bok Yen was reported as saying the EIA must be scrutinised along with the traffic impact assessment, and social impact assessment.

“The traffic and social impact of the project must be made public. There is a need for transparency. Only then can the EIA be more meaningful.”