PENANG’s ambitious road project, the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) highway, carries risk from tunnels that will bore through several of the island’s hills, said a soil expert and environmentalist.

Kam Suan Pheng told a public forum on the RM8 billion PIL1 today that the project’s environmental impact assessment report (EIA) had no proper risk analysis on the impact of tunnelling on the hills.

Around 70% of the 19.5km PIL1 highway comprises tunnels through the hills of Bukit Bendera (Penang Hill), Sg Ara and Paya Terubong.

The highway is part of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) that is opposed by a coalition of civil society groups, Penang Forum, which organised today’s forum.

“How safe will the 10km tunnel through the hills be?” Kam said, adding that the EIA report itself noted that tunnel construction may trigger soil collapse and sinking.

She said the report also mentioned areas that intersected with fault lines which were “highly fractured and vulnerable to collapse”.

This could damage work under construction as well as existing nearby structures like condominiums, the Kek Lok Si Temple, the Air Itam Dam and the Bukit Bendera complex, Kam added.

“The EIA report did not evaluate how tunneling will affect the stability of the highly fractured granite bedrock, the underground water flow, namely in the fault lines, and the stability of the 56-year-old Air Itam earth dam 235m above sea level,” she said at the forum which drew more than 200 people to Dewan Sri Pinang in George Town.

“The report itself recommends detailed studies on the fault lines in the tunnel alignment in the hills in order to refine the tunnel design to obtain a safe route for the highway.

“But it did not say what if a safe route cannot be found, and the project would have already started. Even if a safe route is found, at what additional cost?” Kam said.

Kam added that the EIA report, which was recently open for public viewing, had “dubious data, assumptions and unverifiable facts” like on air quality, traffic volumes, soil erosion and flooding.

It did not explain how certain traffic improvement estimates were arrived at, and its claims could not be verified since the traffic impact assessment report was not released to the public.

The project’s social impact assessment (SIA) has also not been released, added Kam.

Other issues the EIA failed to take into account were climate change, such as changes in rainfall patterns.

She also raised concerns that maintenance of the PIL1 would fall on the state and taxpayers would have to bear the costs.

Other speakers at the forum on PIL1 and the PTPM were Lim Gaik Siang, Khoo Salma Nasution and Dr Lim Mah Hui.

All are with the Penang Forum, which has been arguing that the PIL1 component of the PTPM be cancelled while the rest of the master plan be reviewed to give more emphasis to improving public transport instead of building more roads.

Mah Hui said a better solution to solving traffic woes was upgrading the public transport system to make it frequent, efficient, accessible and on time.

“When people use trams and buses, the dependency on cars will reduce. The priority should be placed on trams and buses. Private cars are secondary,” he said.

Mah Hui said the original master plan prepared by the renowned UK-based engineering consultancy Halcrow already presented Penang with the vision of moving people, not cars, by improving public transportation.

During the forum, those attending were given letter templates to provide feedback on the EIA report to the Department of Environment director-general in Putrajaya.

Members of the audience were asked to sign and return the feedback letters if they agreed with Penang Forum’s objections to the PIL1. The deadline to send feedback to the department ends next month.

Alex Neoh, 42, was among the many who signed the letter, as he felt worried about the project.

“I am worried that by building more roads, we will encourage more people to drive. What about parking spaces? We don’t have enough parking spaces now.

“I also agree that we should be looking at improving public transport,” the Jelutong resident said.

Meanwhile, Juru resident Foo Fook Sin said every project has its pros and cons, and with Penang being a developing state, it needed development to progress.

“I think we need to mitigate the risks and not be too emotional. But I also think development should not be too aggressive. Perhaps having better alternatives is good too,” he said.

Foo said he planned to attend the state government’s forum on the PTMP next weekend at the same venue to hear what the other side has to say. – August 25, 2018.