Penang fishermen to rally at Parliament to protest against PSI project

GEORGETOWN - Penang Fishermen's Association (Pen Mutiara) will continue to protest against the Penang South Island Project (PSI) until the project is cancelled.

Its chairman Ibrahim Che Rose said they would submit a protest memorandum to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the next Parliament session.

He said this is the second memorandum being submitted following the initial memorandum that was presented in Parliament back in 2019.

"We will still protest even if the state government had announced that only one island will be built. We don't want the project to proceed. Cancel it immediately.

"The letter that we sent to Anwar last time seems to be ineffective. We will hold a peaceful rally in Parliament and submit a protest memorandum to Anwar about PSI," he said after a peaceful protest against PSI in Sungai Batu, Teluk Kumbar, here, yesterday.

A total of 4,000 members of the fishing communities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had joined the rally to express their support for the protest.

Other than the local residents and Pen Mutiara, the NGOs present were Penang Forum, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), Lestari Khazanah Alam Pulau Pinang (Lekas) and Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP).

Also seen in the crowd were several political leaders from Perikatan Nasional (PN).

In the meantime, Ibrahim said Pen Mutiara also intends to submit a memorandum of objection to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

"There is indeed a plan to submit a letter to Yang di-Pertuan Agong so that His Majesty is aware of the impact if the sea reclamation project continues," he said.

Ibrahim also issued a challenge to Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, proposing that they venture out to sea together on specific dates, allowing him to show the freshly caught seafood from the project area.

"We never had the opportunity to meet Chow in person. The state government always say that the planned area does not have many marine resources. Therefore, I challenge him to go out to sea with me.

"It's even better if he can go with me on certain dates so he can see for himself how much seafood can be caught. Don't simply make a decision based on studies only because there is consequences to it," he said.

Previously, Pen Mutiara had submitted a letter of objection against PSI project to Anwar through the secretary to the Finance Minister Muhammad Kamil Abdul Munim in a meeting at Pen Mutiara Restaurant, Batu Maung, here.

The letter highlighted the impact on the fishing area situated in the bay, which serves as a fish sanctuary.

Additionally, the PSI project will also cause fishermen to lose off the coast fishing areas due to sand mining work with the reclamation work.

They also said the sand mining operations would lead to the destruction of the area situated 50 kilometers away from the west coast of Penang, impacting the water quality and its suitability for fish cultivation.

The total loss of fishing area is said to be up to 100 kilometres from the coast during the construction.

In the meantime, Southern Penang Fisherman Association president Arshad Omar said claims that fishermen were forced and threatened to attend the protest rally were not true.

He said this is because the fishermen registered with Pen Mutiara need to comply with the association's rules in making any move or decision.

"We adhere to Regulation 27 (1) of the Fishermen's Association Act 1972 which stated a member must not engage in any behavior that is harmful to the association and the member must move in line with the association's objectives.

"So the members are not forced to participate in this gathering and around 80 per cent of the total members registered had attended," he said.