LO TERN CHERN The Star 21 Apr 15;
GEORGE TOWN: A giant banner has appeared at Middle Bank protesting against possible reclamation under the Penang Structure Plan 2007.
Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu put up the 10m x 3m banner yesterday with the words “Save Penang. No To Reclamation Project 2015” at the site, which is also known as Pulau Gazumbo, located between the Penang Bridge and the Sungai Pinang river mouth.
“The site is an important breeding and foraging ground for marine organisms and should be gazetted as a protected area,” said the DAP assemblyman.
“The Penang Structure Plan is renewed every five years and I hope that under the 2012 plan, which is still under review, the state will seriously consider protecting the marine ecosystem,” he told reporters after visiting the site with Pulau Tikus assemblyman Yap Soo Huey.
Teh, an environmentalist, added that he had highlighted the matter in the state assembly in 2012 but there was no response from the state.
“I hope the leaders and the state government will be transparent on the issue because this concerns the state’s marine ecology. Seagrass is not only a marine habitat but also a food source for sea horses,” he said.
Teh said there were only four seagrass beds along the Straits of Malacca, from Johor to Phuket.
“The seagrass patch in Middle Bank is the second largest in peninsular Malaysia after Merambong in Gelang Patah, Johor.”
It was reported that the Penang Development Corporation had called for a Request for Proposal to reclaim the area.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had said the reclamation project would only proceed if the environmental impact assessment permitted it.
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu School of Marine Science and Environment dean Prof Dr Zulfigar Yasin said Middle Bank dissipated the impact of the 2004 tsunami.
On the proposed 3km Penang Sky Cab project linking the mainland to the island, Teh said it would be wiser to build a double-storey tunnel that allowed pedestrians to travel across on one level and another for a Mass Rapid Transit like in many advanced countries.
