Statement
of Dato’ Renji Sathiah, Chairman
Tanjung
Bunga Residents Association
2016
TBRA AGM, 13th April, 2016
In
the past year the residents of Tanjung Bunga and neighbouring
communities, as well as in Penang in general, have witnessed an
acceleration in the deterioation of the environment. The main driver
of this is the fact that the state government clearly favours
developers over the concerns of all those whose quality of life is
impacted by the degradation of the environment.
In
Tanjung Bungah there were two major threats in 2015. One was the huge
project, comprising three high towers off Jalan Sungai Kelian,
bordering on the DEE condominium in the heart of Tanjung Bunga. The
condominium residents organised a press conference which was well
supported and attended. The TBRA joined in this effort and I wrote to
the Mayor expressing our deep concern over the development and its
ramifications. The Mayor’s response was to ask the developer to
lower the height of the building but, regrettably, the density was
maintained. The second was the proposal and call for tenders by the
Penang Development Council for the reclamation of 20 acres of land
and the construction of a marina between the One Tanjung condominium
and the Penang Swimming Club. The TBRA organised a demonstration
against this proposal, which was well supported, in front of One
Tanjung. The TBRA’s objections to the project were also made known
to the Mayor in my letter. We have also been trying to work with the
Penang Swimming Club, which will be seriously impacted by this
project, to work on a joint response. To date there are no
indications that the PDC proposal is still being considered.
Possibly, in view of the major reclamation works planned for Tanjung
Tokong and on the south coast, the state authorities may have decided
to withhold this exercise. We will, however, remain vigilant.
We
also face a number of other issues: pointless construction of
pavements and barriers in different parts of Tanjung Bungah,
benefitting contractors and ignoring the protests of affected locals;
the growing increase of traffic caused by over-development on the
hillsides between Tanjung Bungah and Batu Ferringhi, including heavy
construction in Batu Ferringhi itself and massive projects in Jalan
Permai; a worsening of security in the neighbourhood and the
persisting dengue problem.
The
TBRA conducted a survey last year amongst its members and other
Tanjung Bungah residents which provided useful insights into
residents’ concerns.
The
very important issue of the status of Tanjung Bungah as a secondary
corridor and not a primary corridor based on a major discrepancy in
the second Penang Structure Plan, which had Tanjung Bungah classified
as a primary development corridor in a diagram when the text showed
it as a secondary corridor, remains unresolved. The developers, it
appears, have been given free rein as there is no gazetted Local
Plan.
The
good news is the revival of the Penang Forum, which took on the issue
of illegal hill slope construction in a “Save the Hills”
campaign. A public forum was held with about 300 participants,
followed by a meeting with the Chief Minister to discuss his claims
that the Penang Forum was uninformed and misled by the opposition and
the media. It was an exhaustive meeting with the Forum producing
compelling evidence that the current state government had approved
some of these projects. The Forum argued that the state was not
legally obliged to renew earlier applications and could have imposed
new conditions on them and that there was no legal basis for
compensation as claimed by the state. The Chief Minister has
suggested that the Forum’s experts meet with their state
counterparts on these issues.
Of
great significance was the Appeal Board’s judgement on the appeal
made by residents in Sungai Ara against a 600 home project on the
hillside next to where they lived. The Board ruled that this “Special
Project” ( used to justify what would not be normally allowed under
law) did not fall under the legal definition i.e that it is only for
limited development and in the public interest. Furthermore, the MBPP
did not have the authority to approve such projects. This landmark
ruling provides grounds for challenges to other such projects.
The
TBRA would like to work with other residents associations in Penang
to put pressure on the authorities to respond to peoples’ concerns
and to support the efforts of the Penang Forum.
Overdevelopment,
illegal construction, massive land reclamations without rigorous and
credible environmental impact assessments and now a controversial
Penang Traffic Master Plan, recently announced by the government, are
the key issues facing us in Tanjung Bungah and Penang as a whole. We
must counter these threats to the environment and to our quality of
life but to do so we need your support and commitment. Regrettably,
here in our neighbourhood and elsewhere in Penang, people seem to
only react when faced with a problem on their doorstep. This has to
change if we are to become truly effective by showing solidarity on
matters impacting on the community as a whole.
[This document is also available here in document format: https://goo.gl/qCs9eH]
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