PSI PROJECT IS KEY R

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9 PENANG SOUTH ISLANDS

4 PSI PROJECT IS KEY R

It is because of the Covid-19 pandemic that the project must proceed,

Penang govt insists

AUDREYDERMAWAN GEORGETOWN [email protected]

T

^HE^lands^viously^Penang^Penang^(PSI)^referred^South^project,^South^Reclama^to^as^pre-^the^Is ^#^{^}^{^}

tion project,hasbeen identified by the Penang Socio-Economic RecoveryConsultativeCouncilas akeyrecoverydriverofthestate.

The project is to ensure j Penang’s economy survives as L much as its people during and / afterthecurrentCovid-19 crisis, andisneedednowmorethanev- erasacatalyticdevelopmentpro- jectforPenang.

This was the Penang govern- Inti

ment’s response to PKR Per- AplanofthePenangSouthIslandsproject,previouslyreferredtoasthePenangSouthReclamationproject, filepic

matangPauh memberofparlia

ment Nurul Izzah Anwar, who raries,butmoreimportantly, for start the projectwith all associ- had called on both the federal ourchildrenandtheirchildrento ated risks and debts, including andPenangstategovernmentsto come. both project financing and cor- canceltheproject. “WithoutPSI,Ifearthatfuture porateguaranteebeingborneby NurulIzzah,inastatementon Penangiteswilldowhatmanyof theprincipalpartnerofSRSCon- Monday, saidthe massiverecla- their predecessors did before sortium,GamudaBerhad.

mation project should be can- them,whichistoleaveforgreen- “In the event of-default, we celled in view of immediate erpastureselsewhere,”hesaidin have dlso agreed that all re

pressing needs of the povid-19 aresponseyesterday. claimedlandwillnotbesubject- pandemic,andinanefforttopre- edtocaveatbythelenders.This oprvp Ppnane’s valuable fishing FINANCIALGUARANTEE effectively mitigates the poten- gr^unds the livelihood offish Firstofall,Zairilsaid,aserious tialrisks,”hesaid,

ermenandoverallfoodsecurity. allegation was made about the StateInfrastructureandTrans- projectbeing“fraught

with risks, debts and uncertainties”.

Explaining, he said

dependingontheircategory.” something both parties could Asanaddedeffort,henoted,a agreeon.

fisheries sustainability pro- HeexplainedthatPSIhadbeen gramme would also be imple- designedwithstrictadherenceto mented through the use of ar- ESG(environmental,social,gov- tificialreefsandfishaggregating ernance)criteria,

devices, the release offish and “Weareverymuchconsciousof prawn fry and funding for ma- thefactthatleadingmultination

alcorporationsandinvestorsto- AccordingtoZairil,NurulIzzah dayincreasinglyplacemuchval- also correctly pointed out the ueonsustainability,

needfor“re-skillingefforts”asa “With PSI, we will be able to morecomprehensivesolution to plan from scratchto ensure we the fishing community’s prob- can produce a sustainable, low- carboncitythatmeetsthehigh-

“On this pointwe areincom- estinternationalstandards and, pleteagreement.Besidestheex- bydoingso,attractmuch-needed gratiapackages,therewillalsobe investmentsintothestate.”

are-skillingprogrammeforfull- HesaidtheEnvironmentalIm- timefishermen, providingthem pactAssessmentreporthadbeen withgainfulemploymentduring dulystudiedandmitigationmea- the course ofthe projectthatis sures were planned under the projectedtolastforseveralyears, ecologyoffsetprogrammes.

“With this extraemployment, He said the statehad also in- they will have more stable in- corporatedstudiesbytheUNIn

come and financial security ter-goverrimental Panel on Cli- through Employees’ Provident mateChange,LowCarbonCities Fund contributions, which they Frameworkandtheindependent currentlydon’tenjoy.

“To better convince her, the ingDHVintoPSI’splanning, stategovernmentwouldbehap- “Restassured,thethreeislands py toarrangeforNurul Izzahto are designed to have plenty of meet and speak directly with publicgreenspaces,with20per someofthefishermeninvolved, cent of the land reserved for soshecangetaclearerpictureof parks, mangroves, watercanals, thesituationratherthanrelying andwetlandstoachievetemper

aturecooling.

"The P.SI also aims to reduce carbonemissionsby40percent, rine-relatedresearch.

FISHERMEN’SFATE

Secondly, Zairil said, Nurul Izzah raised the important issue of fishermen’s livelihood, claiming that the reclamation project would affect thefishingcommuni- ty and “increase poverty”.

“Thisisfarfromthe case, asshe alsocor

rectly noted thatthe Penang government is offering ex-gratia

lems.

portCommitteechairmanZairil Khir Johari said, based on Penang’s previous industrialisa-

tion trajectory, an independent itwasunderstandable study prepared by Pricewater- toraisesuchconcerns houseCoopers, the completed on a project of this PSIwouldattractRM70billionof scale, but "I FDI (foreign directinvestments) pleasedtoinformthat and create more than 300,000 inreality,suchclaims arefurthest fromthe am jobsovera30-yeartimeframe.

.“Morecritically, PSIwillbethe truth”,

catalystformorehigh-valueem- “In fact, one ofthe ployment so we can plug the keyfactorswhichled

braindrainandstoptheoutward thestatetoadoptthe ZairilKhirJohari /migrationoftalentedPenangites, joint-venture model

and also attract the best and withSRSConsortium,wastoad- packages and programmes that brightestfromalloverthecoun- dresstheseveryconcerns. are intended to provide long- try and indeed the world to “For the state to embark on termbenefitstothe1,615affected Penang* ’ building thePSI on ourown, it fishermen.

“LiketheBayanLepasFreeIn- would certainly be a financial

dustrialZone before it PSI is a burden. Notonlywouldbillions stretchto saythat the ex-gratia projectforthefutureofPenang. ofringgit ofcapital berequired packages being offered to the

“UnlikeNurulIzzah Igrewup for the reclamation works, it fishermen is quite possibly the inPenans InowworkinPenang would beyears before we see a best large-scale package ever andTpkn to one day retire in single sen ofreturn as the land paidoutinMalaysia.

Penang As such I for one cer- canonlybesold afteritiscom- Ontopofcashpayments,fish- tainlywantPenangtobeableto pleted. ermenwillalsoreceivenewboats provide great opportunities not “Withthejoint-venturemodel, andengines,bringingtheirtotal only for me and my contempo- however, we would be able to packagetoaboutRM60.000each

report by the Royal Haskon-

“In fact, it would not be a

onmisguidedadvice.”

ENVIRONMENTALCONCERNS

Zairilsaid,finally,NurulIzzah achieve 100 per cent renewable I had highlighted theneed toad- energy usageand reduce fresh- ! dressenvironmentalconcerns. waterdemandby70percent,”he

Again, he stressed, this was said. 1