THE Penang South Islands (PSI) project will start after the state government’s environmental management plan (EMP) is approved by the Environment Department (DOE), Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said.

He said the approval will take about two months, and that reclamation work is expected to start in the third quarter of this year.

“The EMP approval is managed at the state level. But if DOE feels the EMP, which we will submit, is still incomplete, it can give us feedback and we will revise and improve it until it complies (with the DOE’s standard),” he said when met at the Batu Kawan open house today. 

Chow was responding to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s statement, which said the DOE’s approval of the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not the final hurdle to starting the project. 

Chow, who is also Batu Kawan MP, said the EIA approval was finalised with 71 conditions, which the government is committed to comply with to ensure a smooth approval process for the EMP. 

“We will present proposals on how to comply with the set conditions, and a series of technical meetings will be held for agencies to give feedback on the report prepared by our consultants,” he said.

On April 26, Chow announced the PSI project’s EIA was approved by the DOE through a letter dated April 11.

PSI is a project to develop three artificial islands, over an area of approximately 1,700ha, off Permatang Damar Laut near Bayan Lepas. 

However, the project attracted objections from the fishing community and environmental civil society groups over concerns it would affect the marine ecosystem. – Bernama, April 29, 2023.