Penang Island: One big construction site?

Residents around Karpal Singh Drive yesterday submitted a memorandum at the Penang State Assembly protesting reclamation plans in their area.

The plan refuses to go away even after the Department of Environment rejected the environmental impact assessment report for the fifth time (yes, you read that right). The must be some kind of record! Read this piece on the Aliran website.

Mega-projects are dotting many parts of Penang Island so much so some people are calling the place “one big construction site”.

All this is happening while the population of Penang Island is barely rising while total fertility rates have plummeted well below population replacement rates.

Let’s look at the mega-projects taking place or in the pipeline:

Meanwhile, land taxes and water tariffs could rise soon.

At its core is a fundamentally misguided notion of development. This is happening at a time when many workers and older people are struggling to meet basic costs of living with only limited welfare aid reaching the most disadvantaged.