Summary of the Petition submitted by TBRA to DOE

Summary of the Petition submitted by TBRA to DOE against the proposed Paired Road from Tanjong Bungah to Telok Bahang

The residents of Tanjong Bungah and surrounding areas object to the

construction of the proposed road for the following reasons:

1. Residents have not been properly informed about the project. The 322 population sample reportedly used to justify the acceptance of the project is not representative of the residents who will be impacted by these roads.
2. Hill clearing and cutting forest reserves in this sensitive and steep slope area will cause soil erosion, flash floods and have a negative impact on water resources.
3. Chee Seng Garden with its many condominiums is already densely populated. Additional traffic into this area will worsen congestion. Moreover, air pollution, dust, noise and vibration will affect residents’ quality of life and impact on their physical and mental health.
4. The proposed alignment will destroy a vital green lung there. Part of the road has been reclaimed by residents who use it in their hundreds every day for exercise and recreation enjoying the hills and waterfall. Extending the road to Lemba Permai will destroy the beauty and serenity of this area for little benefit.
5. The EIA shows the Paired Road stopping abruptly at Lemba Permai inevitably causing a new bottleneck in Tanjong Bungah. It claims to save 14 minutes of travel time from Batu Ferringhi but does not continue to improve the alternative exit via Mount Erskine.
6. The Assessment reveals TEN interchanges between Batu Ferringhi and Tanjong Bungah. That is far to many for the supposed intention of the road (“address the traffic congestion”) and leads us to suspect that the real intent is to open up more hill land for the construction of high rises and high price bungalows.

We appeal to the Department of Environment to stop this project which will not ease traffic but bring more problems to Tanjung Bunga residents. Alternative plans such as improving public transport and upgrading existing roads should be looked into.

TBRA,  4 August 2017