THE Penang Department of Environment (DOE) today issued a stop-work order to the developers of a housing project in Persiaran Kelicap, Bayan Lepas, near George Town, to halt unapproved quarry works at the project site with immediate effect.

Its director, Sharifah Zakiah Syed Sahab said the housing developer and quarry operator also face stern action, including being taken to court, after they were found to be still carrying out quarry-related activities after the DOE’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval period expired on December 7 and was not renewed by the Penang DOE.

“The site was originally approved for a contoured housing project on August 18, 1994. However, the project was delayed several times, and the developer through its contractor then submitted an application to carry out quarry works. The application was approved on October 3, 2013, taking into account the remote distance of the housing project at that time.

“The quarrying period allowed was for three years and ended on October 31, 2016. However, the developer continued applying for an extension of the quarrying period and it had been approved three times, namely, in 2016, 2018, and most recently on December 7, 2021,” she said in a statement today.

She said the application for the extension of the quarry works can no longer be considered by the DOE due to the insufficient buffer zone, which has triggered dozens of complaints by locals related to the issue of tremors, noise, dust, rubble and flying rocks.

Sharifah said her team’s investigations found that the residents’ complaints were based on the quarry’s current distance to the nearest housing area, which is around 70m, and that the DOE is also of the view that the developer had been given ample opportunity to plan and implement the project.

She said even after the quarry operation was not extended, the DOE still received complaints from the nearby residents that the quarry was still in operation and causing a disturbance.

She said that her team used drones and an on-site investigation on February 14 and found that the site was still being used to carry out stone-crushing activities, as well as using water cannons, which posed a nuisance to nearby residents.

Sharifah said the developer and its quarry contractor were then called to the Penang DOE and advised to abide by its instructions not to carry out quarrying activities after the EIA quarry approval period had expired. However, the developer was allowed to continue EIA-approved housing activities at the same site.

“In the meeting on February 18, the developer had made a recommendation to take steps to comply with the directive but yesterday complaints were still received and our investigation found that there were still quarrying activities going on at the site which caused noise disturbances to nearby residents,” she said.

In this regard, Sharifah said that today a notice of instruction by hand was submitted by her to the developer directing that all quarrying activities and sub-activities be stopped immediately, and that her team is in the process of preparing investigation papers to bring the developers and contractors to court for offences under Section 34 A, Section 31 and Section 38 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

According to her, the notice also directs the developer to submit an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) report for housing activities according to the contour within six months from the date of the notice if it is still interested in carrying out housing activities, and if no EMP report is submitted within the stipulated period, the developer is deemed uninterested in continuing its activities.

“Any application in the future will be subject to the need to conduct a new EIA study, and no work is allowed to be carried out on the site until the EMP is submitted and confirmed by the Penang DOE,” she added. – Bernama, February 20, 2022.