PSI did not affect people's support for PH - Chow
GEORGETOWN - Pakatan Harapan's (PH) victory within the past two general elections in 2018 and 2022 shows that the people in the Nibong Tebal parliamentary constituency are able to accept suggestions on the Penang South Island (PSI) project.
Penang PH chairman Chow Kon Yeow said PSI formerly known as the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) began in 2013.
He said in the14th General Election (GE14) in 2018, PH won the majority and in GE15, it maintained the majority in Parliament.
Chow said the controversial project was not seen as a matter affecting the people’s support for PH in the upcoming state elections.
“The PSI project has been tabled to the people prior to GE14 for the people to state their stance. In GE14, we once again stated that the project will be implemented.
“At that time we gave the opportunity for the people to use their powers as voters to state their stance on the project.
“In 2019, we won with a majority of 37 out of 40 state seats contested. Not only did we win the seat at the project site, but we were chosen by those living around the project area,” he said in a press conference at the Chief Minister’s Office in Komtar on Thursday.
He said this when asked whether the mega project's implementation will affect the support towards PH in the upcoming state elections.
This was due to the area consisting of majority of Malays in which Perikatan Nasional (PN) claimed would have a high chance to win.
Chow explained that in the previous general election, the support given to PH remained the same even before the state election.
“We can’t stop the non-governmental bodies or politicians from politicising this project since it began.
“There’s nothing to hide,” he said.
Chow previously announced that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for PSI was approved by the Environmental Department (DOE) where the matter was conveyed to the Penang State Government Secretary (SUK) Datuk Mohd Sayuthi Bakar through a letter dated April 11.
Chow said the approval was based on the 71 conditions imposed including the need to continue implementing the Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP) scheme and the PSI Ecology Offset Master Plan (PEOM).
He added the land reclamation works will only begin after obtaining the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) approval where it was expected to begin in the third quarter of the year.
PSI is a mega project involving the reclamation and development of three islands with an area of 1,821 hectares at the southern shore of Penang Island.
The project that was introduced in 2015 as the funding module for the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) after SRS Consortium was appointed as the project delivery partner (PDP) on Aug 14, that year.
