THE Consumers’ Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia are upset that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) highway has been approved.

They said this approval was “no milestone” for solving the state’s worsening traffic problem.

PIL 1 is part of the larger Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP). 

The Penang government announced this morning that the Department of Environment has approved the EIA with 56 conditions for the highway, which local civil groups have been campaigning against.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow described the EIA approval as a milestone.

SM Mohamed Idris, who heads CAP and SAM, said they are “very upset” and “in shock” that DoE approved the project despite public feedback.

“We are totally shocked that the Penang government has refused to listen to a large section of the public, who had studied the EIA and who had given informed feedback and comments.

“We reiterate our call to the Penang government not to proceed with the PIL, despite its conditional EIA approval,” he said in a statement today.

Idris also said CAP and SAM did not see PIL1’s EIA approval as a milestone in addressing Penang’s traffic congestion woes because the highway would not be a long-term solution.

He said the EIA report claimed that the new highway would reduce travel time for motorists but “ignored” the traffic analysis that full capacity for the highway would be reached by 2030.

Construction for the highway, which links Persiaran Gurney in the north to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway near the Bayan Lepas free industrial zone 4 area in the south of the island, is expected to begin in July next year. 

The completion of the project, which Chow estimated to cost RM7 billion, is slated for mid 2026.

Idris said to spend that amount of money was “a colossal waste of public resources” when the new highway would not be a long-term solution for Penang’s traffic woes.

He also said EIA had “wrongly claimed” that no heritage structures would be affected. 

“This is not true as the Por Tay Buddhist School, St Nicholas Home, Penang Chinese Girls’ High School, Shree Muniswarar temple, the iconic Penang Hill railway, Kek Lok Si temple and the Air Itam dam – are all over 50 years old with cultural and historical significance, that will be adversely affected by the PIL.”

Idris also said the project with its elevated six lanes would “completely ruin” Penang island’s charm.

He said the project “will certainly be very ugly” with “adverse visual impact over green parks and forested hills.

“The highway plans to canalise and straighten rivers, when globally, cities are trying to restore natural river flows.”

Idris said the EIA report did not address the heavy usage of two popular parks – Youth Park (City Park) and Taman Jajar – on the route of the elevated highway. 

Recreational users, including children, will be subjected to increased air pollutants and noise levels exceeding 75dB, when the recommended maximum noise level is 60dB, he said.

Idris, who is perhaps the most senior civil society activist in Penang, said no amount of mitigation measures would be able to address how the character of Penang Island would changed, with the building of PIL1. – April 15, 2019.