WHILE the recent storm and floods in Penang have damaged boats and prevented fishermen in the north from working temporarily, land reclamation poses a long-term threat to their counterparts on the southwestern coast.

The fishermen fear a permanent loss of their livelihood as the state awaits a detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA) on a mega land reclamation project that threatens to wipe out the state’s best fishing grounds.

The community of some 1,500 fishermen had their fears revived again yesterday, when the state legislative assembly was told that the DEIA on the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project was still pending approval by the federal Department of Environment (DoE) following its submission in April this year.

“The project delivery partner SRS Consortium had completed the DEIA and sent it to DoE. SRS is tasked with getting approval for the project from the federal government,” Penang traffic management committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow told the House.

“The reclamation project has not started physically. It is still pending approval to start,” he said in answer to a question on the project’s status by Barisan Nasional’s Penaga rep Mohd Zain Ahmad.

But unless the project for three man-made islands covering 1,821ha is put to a clear stop, the fishermen of Balik Pulau cannot rest.

The three proposed islands are the 930ha Island A and the 445ha Island B off Permatang Damar Laut and Sungai Batu, and the 323ha Island C off Teluk Kumbar and Gertak Sanggul.

They are meant to be auctioned off by the Penang government to pay for its ambitious RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), which aims to solve the state’s traffic woes with light rail transit, monorail and tram lines; bus services, roads and highways.

The massive project, since it was announced some two years ago, has alarmed fishermen, Penang’s civil society and environmental groups.

In August this year, even Prime Minister Najib Razak took a jab at the project, saying that the federal government “could not support” developments that were detrimental to the environment and livelihoods of over a thousand fishermen. 

Disapproving the reclamation, which is within the federal government’s power, means denying the opposition-controlled Penang the PTMP. When BN ruled the state government prior to 2008, however, it too, had approved reclamation projects in Tanjung Tokong and Jelutong.

Permanent loss

Southern Penang Fishermen’s Association chief Arshad Omar told The Malaysian Insight that fishermen were still saying, “no”, to the reclamation. 

His association represents 1,500 fishermen from the Southwestern district of Penang, including those in Balik Pulau.

Long explanations about the project in a state government dialogue last December – how it would benefit the state, its environmental impact and assurances that the fishermen would still be able to fish off the southern coast – have failed to convince them.

“The reasons for our objection remain the same,” Arshad told The Malaysian Insight in a recent phone interview.

“The southern coast is the best fishing spot in Penang. The reclamation will impact the fishing ground and kill our livelihoods.”

Arshad stressed that the fishermen’s only concern was preserving Penang’s best fishing ground, as the bay on the southern coast was a fertile fish and shrimp breeding ground.

“This is the best place, if not the only place, in Penang where we still get a lot of silver pomfret (bawal putih), Chinese silver pomfret (bawal tambak), threadfin (senangin) and the seasonal mackerel (ikan kembung),” he said.

“We have already seen that negative impact following reclamations in the northern parts of the island,” he said, referring to the projects at Tanjung Tokong and Jelutong under the BN administration.

In recent years, environmental groups had blamed the 97ha Seri Tanjung Pinang 1 (STP1) reclamation in Tanjung Tokong for causing sedimentation along the Persiaran Gurney shore and affecting fishermen’s daily catch.

The fishermen said they faced problems, despite the project’s preliminary EIA report stating that the reclamation would have no such impact.

Similar concerns had also been raised about the ongoing 307ha STP2 reclamation in front of Persiaran Gurney, a smaller project than the PSR.

No response from Penang government

Arshad said the Penang Fishermen’s Association (Pen Mutiara) had sent two memoranda on their objections against the PSR last year and this year to the state government.

At the start of the year, they also sent representatives to speak to state agriculture and agro-based committee chairman Dr Afif Bahardin about the reclamation and other fishermen’s problems.

“But we have yet to receive any feedback. We have no more memoranda to send the state. 

“We have taken our concerns to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry. We went to the ministry even before Najib visited Balik Pulau (in August),” he said.

In July, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said in a statement that he had met the fishermen and ordered relevant departments like DoE,  the Drainage and Irrigation Department, Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia and Marine Parks to look into their concerns. 

Two days after Najib said reclamation projects would not receive federal approval, Junaidi said the Land and Mines Department could withhold the land titles to stop the development if Penang was adamant in pursuing it. 

Arshad said the fishermen were waiting for the ministry to assess the PSR project.

“The ministry has to study the consultants’ reports on the project to justify whether to allow or disallow the reclamation,” he said.

Apart from the consultants’ report on the project’s environmental impact, there is also another one by Universiti Sains Malaysia that the ministry will study.

“(Umno’s) Balik Pulau MP Dr Hilmi Yahya asked USM for a report as well. He, too, does not agree with the proposed reclamation,” he said.

It is not politics

Arshad said fishermen realise how “political” the whole affair now appears, with the BN federal government appearing to look for ways to block the project, thus, preventing the DAP-led Penang government from seeing the PSR and PTMP projects take off.

With the 14th general election looming, the reclamation project is bound to become a political issue for both sides. 

Arshad said the fishermen were not trying to politicise the issue and acknowledged that it was BN that had approved the earlier reclamation projects in Penang like STP1 and 2 in the north. 

“The northern fishermen are mostly part-timers. Those in Tanjung Tokong, Tanjung Bungah and Batu Feringghi have jobs in the tourism belt. Those in Jelutong have other jobs, too.

“There, only some 30%, I think, fish full-time. But for the southern Penang fishermen from Bayan Lepas to Balik Pulau, this is our only job. That’s why this reclamation proposal is a sensitive matter to us.

“If we fail to protect the island’s southern coast, our livelihoods are as good as gone. This is why we are trying so hard to protect the area,” he said.

Fishermen had previously warned that Penangites would lose their source of seafood and also risk having to pay more for seafood if their hauls continued to be affected by reclamation projects in the state. – November 9, 2017.