Health impact assessment needed for Jelutong project, says group
GEORGE TOWN : A Penang residents' group has urged environmental regulators to reject a developer's environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a planned reclamation project next to the old Jelutong landfill, saying it breaks the rules by leaving out a full health impact assessment (HIA).
In a statement, the Protect Karpal Singh Drive Action Committee said the project's proponents ignored the need for a HIA, a new requirement under the law since January for such a project.
'The developer's failure to include a HIA is not an oversight, it's a direct violation of law.
'The environment department (DoE) has clear legal authority and constitutional obligation to reject this incomplete and non-compliant proposal,' the group's spokesman, Dr K Ganesh, said.
The RM1 billion reclamation plan involves digging up and rehabilitating the closed Jelutong landfill and reclaiming adjacent coastal land north of the Penang Bridge to temporarily dump the unearthed rubbish from the landfill, besides carrying out mixed development.
Ganesh said the EIA failed to consider long-term risks from dust, gas and noise, and ignored most residents in its social study.
The group has demanded a full HIA, a certified landfill closure plan, and strong legal steps to protect Middle Bank — a mudflat rich in marine life and seagrass — and public health.
He said the group met the Penang DoE yesterday and sent in a formal protest memo, outlining a few demands, including rejecting the developer's EIA.
The group learnt that 98.6% of the public comments during the EIA public display period were against the project, Ganesh added.
The Penang government signed the deal to rehabilitate the island's only sanitary landfill with PLB Engineering Bhd in 2020 to carry out the project over four to five years.
However, no visible works have begun. The 65ha site includes 36ha of landfill and 29ha of new land next to the Karpal Singh Drive waterfront.
Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow previously defended the project, saying it would not encroach on the Middle Bank. He had said that the reclamation was needed to create space for a safe landfill clean-up.
He said once the site is cleaned up, it will be handed to the developer for mixed development, and the state would get back 20% to 30% of the reclaimed land as part of the deal.
More recently, Chow said the Penang government may consider downsizing the reclaimed area following a meeting with the group.
However, the residents said the developer's own report shows the landfill can be rehabilitated within its current boundary making reclamation unnecessary.
FMT has contacted local government exco member Hng Mooi Lye for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
18 minutes ago
- The Star
French multinational Imerys to invest RM1.68bil, expected to create up to 120 jobs, says PM
PARIS: French multinational company Imerys has pledged to invest approximately RM1.68bil to establish a carbon black production facility for use in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles in Malaysia, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. According to the Prime Minister, this will be Imerys' second such plant globally after Belgium and it is expected to create 100 to 120 skilled jobs. 'It is under site consideration at the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PPIC) Johor or the Gebeng Industrial Park in Pahang. 'It targets the Asia-Pacific Market, contributing to regional EV battery manufacturing and conductive polymer applications,' said Anwar in his speaking notes during a one-on-one meeting with Imerys in Paris, France on July 4 (Friday). Anwar said Imerys' carbon black project aligns with Malaysia's goals under the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030). 'It will boost Malaysia's positioning in the battery materials supply chain and support downstream localisation and innovation. 'This project also complements the broadened EV and renewable energy agenda, with strong potential for industrial linkage and technology transfer,' said Anwar. Anwar said Malaysia welcomes Imerys confidence in Malaysia as a strategic destination in Asia, and the proposed carbon black project will significantly contribute to the development of Malaysia's battery and EV ecosystem. 'We are committed to supporting this investment through streamlined facilitation and industrial development enablers, aligned with our NIMP 2030 and NETR. 'The partnership with PETRONAS for feedstock, and consideration for strategic locations such as PIPC Johor and Gebeng, Pahang, reinforces our push towards value-added industrialisation,' said Anwar. Imerys has operations in 33 countries and it supplies functional additives, mineral components and process enablers for industries including plastic, energy, construction and electronics. In Malaysia, Imerys Minerals Malaysia Sdn Bhd operates a calcium carbonate mine in Ipoh, which is its largest Southeast Asian site.
Malay Mail
34 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
Bursa Malaysia ends slightly higher as foreign funds lift banks, utilities and consumer counters
KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — Bursa Malaysia turned slightly higher at the close yesterday, supported by continued buying in selected heavyweights led by financial services, industrial products and services counters amid a mixed regional markets' performance, an analyst said. At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 1.20 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 1,550.19 from yesterday's close of 1,548.99. The index opened 1.75 points higher at 1,550.74 and hovered between 1,547.70 and 1,551.78 throughout the day. The broader market was positive with 489 gainers compared to 466 decliners, while 509 counters were unchanged, 923 untraded and 21 suspended. Turnover fell to 3.43 billion units worth RM2.47 billion against 5.09 billion units worth RM2.9 billion yesterday. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI closed marginally higher with buying mainly on consumer, utilities and banks, with profit-taking on Petronas-linked stocks. 'Regional market tone remained cautious following President Donald Trump's plan to issue official communications today on revised US tariff rates to key global economies. 'To date, the US has signed trade deals only with the UK and Vietnam, and a limited framework with China. As for the local bourse, sentiment remains positive thanks to the return of foreign funds,' he told Bernama. Among heavyweights, Maybank lost 6.0 sen to RM9.74, Public Bank added 8.0 sen to RM4.38, Tenaga Nasional ticked up 4.0 sen to RM14.06, CIMB dropped 2.0 sen to RM6.77, and IHH Healthcare went down 10 sen to RM6.75. As for the most active stocks, Borneo Oil was flat at half-a-sen, Zetrix AI improved 2.0 sen to 99.5 sen, Nationgate went up 11 sen to RM1.78, NexG was 1.0 sen higher at 40 sen and Tanco dropped 1.0 sen to 89 sen. — Bernama
The Sun
38 minutes ago
- The Sun
Air cargo shipments from Asia to US slump
SHANGHAI: Air cargo shipment volume from Asia has declined by double digits since the US cancelled a tax exemption for low-value packages from China early in May, trade groups and analysts said. Air cargo demand from Asia to North America declined 10.7% in May versus the same month a year earlier, showed data from the International Air Transport Asso-ciation (IATA), illustrating 'the dampening effect of shifting US trade policies,' IATA director-general Willie Walsh said in a report published on Monday. Shipments valued under US$800 (RM3,375) – often sent by air to US customers of low-cost e-commerce platforms such as Shein and PDD's Temu – fall under the so-called de minimis, or too-small-to-matter, tax exemption. Since May 2, shipments sent from China and Hong Kong have been taxed at a rate initially as high as 145% before settling to as low as 30% after a mid-May trade detente between the US and China. The pair continue to negotiate on trade, with the US relaxing export restrictions on software, ethane and aerospace to China this week, ahead of July 9 when the US plans to re-impose a range of steep tariffs targeting multiple countries. The volume of low-value e-commerce shipments from China to the US in May saw a particularly steep decline, industry experts said. Such shipments fell 43% in May from the previous month, showed estimates from air cargo consultancy Aevean, but rose to other main export markets including Europe and South-east Asia. It is not clear whether such dramatic declines will continue, said Aevean managing director Marco Bloemen, given businesses had anticipated the de minimis halt and because the tariff rate was lowered mid-month. 'Will those e-commerce players bounce back to the US now they're paying 30% duties instead of zero duties?' Bloemen said. Firms turning to other markets due to US trade policy uncertainty is also likely weighing on shipment volume, he said. 'That's a trend that we're expecting to continue – there's more Europe-destined e-commerce ex-pected in the month of June, also to markets like Latin America.' Air cargo consultancy Rotate said e-commerce platforms were focusing on other markets to replace lost US demand, with significant export growth to the European Union and Asia-Pacific region. Shein and PDD did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Low-value e-commerce out of Asia has been taking an increasing proportion of global air freight and boosting airlines' cargo businesses. Last year such shipments – at 1.2 million metric tons – made up 55% of goods shipped from China to the US by air compared to just 5% in 2018, Aevean data showed. As Asia-to-US demand fell in May, airlines pulled freighter aircraft off trans-Pacific routes and placed them elsewhere, industry experts said. Some of that demand has now returned as firms take advantage of tariff pauses between the US and a number of countries, but flight fre-quencies are reduced, they said. 'Some of the larger players that were chartering three flights a week have cut back to two,' said e-commerce consultancy Cirrus Global Advisors. Direct freighter capacity between China and the US in June was 11% lower compared to March, wiping out growth in capacity over the past year on those lanes, Rotate data showed. Asia-focused freight forwarder Dimerco Express reported a significant decline in its e-commerce bookings, estimating a 50% drop in both May and June. This sharp decrease in demand has led to on-going cancellations of scheduled freighter flights, as the firm faces logistical challenges and adjusts its operations in response to the weaker market conditions, according to their latest report. The de minimis rule, which dates to 1938, had been a target of criticism from American lawmakers as a loophole that lets Chinese products skirt US tariffs and allows illegal drugs and precursors to make opioid fentanyl to enter the US unscreened. – Reuters
