GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has reiterated that it will not start its proposed Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project – which will see the creation of three man-made islands – until the Environment Management Plan (EMP) is approved by the Department of Environment (DOE).
"This is nothing new. We have said this before. We will not and we cannot start the project unless we comply with the statutory requirements set in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval.
"We trust our consultants will do a good job (to prepare the EMP) and to meet all (72 conditions) of DOE's requirements," Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said when asked to comment on Environment and Water Minister Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man's statement in Dewan Rakyat earlier today that works on the PSR will not commence until the approval of its EMP by the DOE.
The EMP is one of 72 conditions stipulated in the EIA approval for the massive reclamation project. It is to minimise any adverse environmental impact arising from the project.
Chow said the EIA approval has a two-year validity period, which expires in June next year.
"We have a timeline to adhere to and we definitely want to abide by it. We are mindful that before we start the project, we need to prepare the EMP and submit it to the DOE, which will address all the conditions for the EIA approval," he added.
Earlier this month, Chow signed the master agreement for the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) for the RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) project with SRS Consortium.
The agreement entailed components for the Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, Pan Island Link 1 and 2A Expressway (PIL 1 and PIL 2A) as well as the three-island PSR project.
The urgent task of SRS Consortium upon the signing of the agreement was to start the implementation of the reclamation works for Island A, one of the three artificial islands in the PSR project, and the LRT components.