IN the battle for public opinion, Penang’s civil societies and environmentalists look set to go on a head-on clash with the state government in the ongoing debate over the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said yesterday more public engagement sessions are planned to explain the need for the PTMP, which includes the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) and LRT (light rail transit) projects.

He invited Penang folk to a public forum entitled “PTMP for Penangites” to be held on September 2, adding that the state government was in the midst of planning a town hall on PIL1 to give locals a chance to air their thoughts on the proposed highway.

“The state wants to listen to the people’s concerns and respond to their queries,” Chow told reporters.

The forum will come exactly a week after Penang Forum – the civil group most opposed to the PIL1 and LRT projects – holds its own gathering to explain what it thinks is wrong with the entire transportation master plan.

Penang Forum is encouraging the public, especially those living in the Paya Terubong and Air Itam, who will be the most affected by PIL1, to attend its English and Malay forum at Dewan Sri Pinang tomorrow and the Chinese forum at the Teochew Association the next day.

The group, along with environmental activists, said the projects will not be a long-term resolution to the island’s traffic woes and will instead destroy much of Penang’s natural hilly landscape.

Engaging the unaware

Despite the magnitude of the infrastructure projects under the PTMP, the levels of public awareness remain low.

The PIL1 is a 19.5km highway stretching from Persiaran Gurney in the north of the island to Relau and then to the second Penang Bridge in the south, bypassing many of the city’s smaller and congested roads.

However, the massive project will see 70% of its tunnels running through the hills of Bukit Bendera (Penang Hill), Paya Terubong and Sg Ara. Some proposed interchanges for the highway will also impact on existing communities.

Based on the preliminary design of the interchange in Paya Terubong, it is estimated that 11 residential, 29 commercial units, one temple, and 12 minor structures are affected.

But many locals with shops and houses next to Jalan Paya Terubong, where this interchange is being proposed, have little knowledge of the magnitude of the project.

Television repairman Heng Meow Chong, whose shop will be right in front of the interchange if the plan proceeds unchanged, was somewhat dumbfounded when told about the plans.

His shop will not have to give way to the project but the row of shops opposite his might have to, if the plan is unaltered.

“That’s an entire row of houses and shops. What’s going to happen to the affected row? Do the owners even know?” Heng told The Malaysian Insight.

Ooi, 70, a fruit seller with a shop in the affected row, said he believed that only the sidewalk in front of his shop would be used to widen the road.

“A surveyor came by recently to take measurements. The man said the government plans to take back the sidewalk for the main road.

“He told me I won’t be able to put my stall out any more and I will have to move it inside. That was all,” said the man who only gave his surname.

Ooi appeared relieved when told the project was still far from being approved and that the alignment and the interchange might still be changed, depending on public feedback.

Many other locals appeared to have vague, if not conflicting, ideas about the PIL1 and PTMP, which has led opponents to accuse the government of doing too little to educate stakeholders and those whose livelihoods will be affected by the project.

Little interest

But SRS Consortium, the project delivery partner of the PTMP, insists that it has been conducting public engagement sessions since December 2015, holding a total of 965 sessions before and during the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process.

The sessions include government agencies, assemblymen, MPs, community leaders, professional and business groups, civil society organisations, media, fishermen and residents.

However, the turnout for some of the events,which targeted residents and shop owners, was discouraging.

An SRS officer cited a meeting with the consortium last year, when flyers were distributed to locals in Paya Terubong.

“But many did not turn up. Then we had to proceed to prepare the EIA report for the highway,” she said, referring to the report that was recently displayed for public feedback.

SRS has also spoken to PIL1 critics from the Jesselton residents’ association, Sg Ara residents and the Kek Lok Si temple committee at closed-door dialogues to address their concerns and objections.

Engagements were also held for the proposed LRT from Komtar to the Penang airport in Bayan Lepas, and the PSR reclamation plan, which is a huge concern for local fishermen.

Chow told reporters yesterday that the public engagement being conducted on the PTMP is likely the largest stakeholder engagement ever done in Malaysia for a project.

“Every time letters of concern about the project are received, a team will be sent to engage the concerned party to listen to the worries and give explanations.

“This is being done still,” he said. – August 24, 2018.