Malaysian artists join opposition to Penang’s land reclamation project
- For the first time, this new group has taken part in a public event to protest against the massive project
- State government says project needed to overhaul Penang’s transport system
“It looks as if someone was trying to build something as large and expensive as possible, without taking the effort to plan it properly,” entrepreneur Curry Khoo said as we sat in a coffee shop in Bayan Lepas, close to Penang International Airport.
We discussed the proposed Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), consisting of five light rail and monorail lines, highways, viaducts and tunnels – one undersea, another cutting through the hills of the picturesque Penang Island.
Earlier this week, Khoo had attended a solidarity event in Georgetown organised by the Penang Tolak Tambak (Penang Against Reclamation) association and local fishermen. While there have been previous protests by fishermen and environmentalists against the plan, which will involve massive land reclamation, the event last Monday saw the participation of a new breed of protesters for the first time. There were local painters, musicians and designers supported by artists from Lithuania and the United Kingdom, students, cyclists and members of residents’ associations.
The state government has presented the PTMP as the long-awaited solution that will boost the northern state’s economy and end traffic congestion. It wants to fund the transport infrastructure by constructing three artificial islands (18.2 sq km combined), and selling the newly reclaimed land to developers. The whole mega project is to cost 46 billion ringgit (US$11.2 billion), almost 40 times Penang’s budget for 2019.
But citizen groups ask why is there a need to pursue such a huge project in the first place. They say it is too big, too expensive and will not only destroy ecosystems and impoverish local fishermen but could also endanger the state’s tourism potential, worsen floods as sea levels rise and could ultimately bankrupt Penang.
According to the Penang Forum, a group of local non-governmental organisations, the Bayan Lepas LRT line would generate losses of between 23 million and 126 million ringgit annually and still would not meet the mobility needs of Penangites.