THE Penang government should not prevent civil society from presenting its arguments against the proposed Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) highway at a town hall session tonight, said activists against the project.

The session will be attended by officials from the Department of Environment (DoE), which had asked the state government to organise it to collect public feedback on the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) report.

Penang Forum representative Khoo Salma Nasution said the town hall should be an avenue to debate the project, instead of giving “top-down” answers.

“Every time we ask questions, we also get the same answers that don’t make sense,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

Dr Lim Mah Hui, another Penang Forum representative, had previously urged the state to organise a joint forum, where the state authorities, PIL1 project delivery partner SRS Consortium and civil groups could all present their views and findings.

“But this idea was not accepted,” he said.

The estimated RM8 billion PIL1, which is part of the larger Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), is a 19.5km highway from Persiaran Gurney in the north to Relau in the south, 70% of which will be tunnels through the hills of Bukit Bendera (Penang Hill), Paya Terubong and Sungai Ara.

Penang Forum had questioned the safety of drilling tunnels through the granite hills, as well as the environmental, health, traffic and social impact the project would have on the lives of communities living near the alignment.

They had also questioned the rationale of building another highway to solve the island’s traffic woes when it had been proven that more roads would only lead to more cars on them.

The group has so far also collected thousands of letters and signatures from concerned Penangites.

The DoE is collecting public feedback on the project’s EIA report until September 24, a process required to determine whether the report is approved or rejected. – September 20, 2018.