AS civil society ramps up the campaign to get the Pan Island Link 1 highway cancelled, the Penang government today announced a town hall session on the project.

The public session on the PIL1’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) report, which the Environmental Department (DoE) had requested the state government to help organise, will be on September 20 at the Setia SPICE Convention Centre at 8pm.

It is expected to be a lively session, as civil society members and others critical of the project present their concerns and arguments directly to DoE officials, and Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin, who may be attending.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said he will also attend the town hall session, although he is not required to be present.

“The public and stakeholders can directly give their views to the DoE.

“This will be an open and transparent engagement process with the people and civil society members (who have been objecting against the project).

“Whatever pre-conceived ideas they may have on the project, they can also bring them up at the town hall session. DoE will listen to all their views,” he told a press conference at his Komtar office today.

Chow said he hoped the session would be a “peaceful” one where people will present their arguments in an “impactful way for all to understand” and “in the spirit of Penang”.

“The session on September 20 is only on PIL1. So we hope the public will not bring up concerns over other projects.

“We will have another session on the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) on September 30. Further details on this session will be announced later,” he said.

The briefing on the highway and its EIA report at the town hall will be handled by the consultant Wiranda Sdn Bhd.   

PIL1 is part of the larger PTMP, a comprehensive integrated public transport plan to address Penang’s worsening traffic problem. The master plan also proposes a light rail transit (LRT) system, which the civil groups are also opposing.

Chow also said he will be meeting Transport Minister Anthony Loke next Tuesday in Putrajaya to receive a briefing by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) on its findings on the Komtar-Bayan Lepas LRT project proposed by the Penang government since March 2016.

He said there was no communication from SPAD after two meetings with the state in 2016 until Loke said last week that the LRT may not be the best option for Penang.

“We are interested to know what SPAD did with our 2016 submission. Our officers will also explain to them why we chose the LRT option,” he said.

Penang Forum, a loose coalition of civil societies in the state, has been going around Penang organising their own smaller forums with residents and focus groups to raise awareness on the impact of the PTMP, namely its PIL1 and LRT components.

The PIL1 highway stretches 19.5km from Persiaran Gurney in the north to Sungai Ara in the south. About 70% of the highway will cut through tunnels in Penang Hill, Paya Terubong and Sungai Ara.

Penang Forum said the PIL1 alignment can affect 10 schools with 10,000 students, up to 100 visually-impaired persons from the St Nicholas’ Home, 20 places of worship, 234 houses and others.

Critics have raised concerns about the environmental risks involved in drilling tunnels through the hills, especially in Penang Hill where the Air Itam Dam and famed Kek Lok Si Temple are located.

Penang Forum is now racing against time to collect feedback of those opposed to the PIL1 highway and wish to see it scrapped. It has so far collected over 3,000 letters from Penangites concerned about the project.

Feedback on the PIL1 EIA must be submitted to the DoE by September 24. –  September 13, 2018.