PENANG Hill Watch, a Penang Forum initiative, has started an online petition on Change.org to stop two hotel projects on Penang Hill.

Launched this morning, the petition collected more than 500 signatures by 5pm.

The petition, addressed to Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, objected to two hotels proposed near the Convalescent Bungalow (about 200 rooms) and Coolie Lines (about 100 rooms) on Penang Hill.

Chow announced the two projects, with some 300 rooms combined, on November 8.

“We call on the Penang state government to review and cancel this mega development project on the hill,” the petition read.

It claimed that the projects would “spoil the charm and ambience of Penang Hill”, a popular recreational space for locals.

The petition also raised concern that the new hotels would “be beyond the hill’s carrying capacity”.

“They will tremendously strain Penang Hill’s limited resources. Both hotels will have about 300 rooms in total, which will mean about 500 to 600 more people on Penang Hill if both hotels are in full occupancy.” 

Concerns over soil erosion and possible landslides were also highlighted in the petition, as Penang was recovering from a fatal landslide in Bukit Kukus, Paya Terubong, last month that killed nine foreign workers.

In October last year, a landslide at an apartment building site in Tanjung Bungah also killed 11 workers.

Considering the incidents, the petition stated: “We are extremely worried that similar circumstances could happen on Penang Hill, which is an environmentally sensitive area if this project proceeds.”

It also said the hotel projects were not “climate smart developments”. It also stated that Penang had recorded increased rainfall and extreme weather events in recent years, like the November storm last year.

“It is worth reminding that Penang Hill suffered almost 200 landslides in the November 2017 storm, which resulted in unprecedented damage to the hill’s slopes and infrastructure.”

The petition also said the projects that border parts of the hill slope gazetted as water catchment areas would endanger supplies contributing to the state’s water needs.

The disruption to the hill’s flora and fauna is also cited as a reason to stop the projects. The petition cited how Chow had said himself that part of the hotel projects would be in the forest reserve, a matter that needed to be resolved.

The petition also said the hotel projects conflicted with and jeopardised the state’s ambition to have Penang Hill recognised as a Unesco Man and Biosphere Reserve, which would ensure long-term conservation and preservation of the hill’s natural habitat.

“Let’s not sacrifice Penang Hill, our crowning jewel, at the altar of unscrupulous, unsustainable development. Save my hill, Save our hill, Save Penang Hill!”

The last time the state government proposed to develop Penang Hill extensively for tourism was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Barisan Nasional was still in power.

Protests and campaigning by civil society groups against the developments followed, and then chief minister Dr Lim Chong Eu lost his seat in the 1990 general election. – November 15, 2018.