PRESS RELEASE 2 June 2021: Nurul Izzah Anwar's Statement on PSR

PRESS RELEASE

2 June 2021

The Tanjung Bunga Residents Association (TBRA) is pleased that Nurul Izzah Anwar, the PermatangPauh Member of Parliament, continues to lend her powerful voice to the Penang rakyat’s protest against the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.

The PSR project raises many concerns about the permanent negative impact that will be incurred onthe environment, and to the people living in the surrounding communities.

The Penang State Government argues that in order for Penang to maintain its competitive edge thePSR is essential. However, TBRA is concerned that the State continuously fails to take intoconsideration the health, environmental, and social impacts of this massive endeavor.

We are encouraged by Nurul Izzah’s comments: “The Ministry of Environment and Water mustrevoke any earlier approval provided by the Department of Environment; and energise all possibleefforts to collaborate with the Penang State Government in managing the people’s socio-economicrecovery as we chart the uncertain post-pandemic recovery terrain.”

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the PSR project clearly states that:“Permanent destruction and residual impacts will be suffered by the mudflat ecosystem, fishinggrounds, turtle landings, and some of the coral reefs on Pulau Rimau. This permanent destructionwill have a significant negative impact on fisheries resources, fishermen and the security of thecountry’s food supply.”

TBRA is alarmed that Tanjong Bunga’s State Assemblyman Zairil Khir Johari, who is also the PenangState Infrastructure and Transport Committee chairman has once again come out vehemently tosupport this project. He seems oblivious to the real environmental and financial consequences ofPSR.

YB Zairil points to an “independent study” by Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) to back his claim thatthe PSR would be a “key recovery driver of the state”. Unfortunately, this study has not been madeavailable to the rakyat – and we hope that our YB would be kind and responsible enough to sharethe entire study freely on his social media platforms.

While it is impossible to say with certainty what the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic will be forPenang and its government’s proclivity for mega projects, what has become obvious is thatemployees have ditched their commutes and office spaces, and switched to working from theirhomes.

The State Government needs to see this as a watershed moment in history that marks the end of atraffic-jam era and usher in a new one.

The business models for delivering infrastructure will need to changewhereby parks, trails and other green spaces needs to take higher priority. Perhaps the StateGovernment needs to rethink its mega projects as the changes on our climate, and the repercussionsof this pandemic is going to require more creative thinking about urban infrastructure.

Anything that decreases the dependence on the car is a good thing for climate change andsustainability and for its effect on the family budget and the cost of urban infrastructure.

TBRA is encouraged by the rapid appearance of new bike lanes on the island and hope that thegovernment will use this crisis to rebuild our economy based on modern, better and more humanestrategies. We need a very different kind of economics if we are to build a socially just andecologically sound future for the next generation.

We therefore support the call by YB Nurul Izzah to cancel the PSR project. It is the right thing to do.

Zulfikar Abdul Aziz

Treasurer TBRA