Groundswell grows against controversial RM8bn Penang highway plan

More and more people are speaking out against the much-criticised contractor-and-developers’ 19.5km highway plan in Penang, which will affect a few hundred homes and cross over much-loved parks in Penang.

All kinds of people are campaigning actively against the project, it is hard to miss it no matter where you look.

A children’s art activity against the highway:

Look at their excellent work:

Meanwhile, concerned youth are speaking weekly at Speakers Square:

Then there are the many articles popping up all over the media, and some of these are reproduced in this blog. And of course, The Star carried a front-page story about the Kek Lok Si Temple’s firm opposition to the highway.

An online petition calling for the cancellation of the highway has so far gathered over 4,000 signatures and counting.

And now someone else has just started another petition titled ‘Development for Penang, not Penang for Developers – CANCEL SRS!’

A Youtube video has been produced:

Thanks to pressure from civil society groups and widespread concern, the federal government has extended the viewing period of the environmental impact assessment by a couple of weeks until early September.

Meanwhile, residents in Sungai Ara have asked the state government and SRS Consortium, made up of a contractor and two developers, if they were the ones behind the Support Penang Transport Master Plan Facebook page. But both parties have denied they had anything to do with the page, where a lot of the propaganda in support of the highway is posted. Several commenters to the Facebook page have complained that their comments critical of the SRS plan have been blocked or deleted from the page.

The Facebook page has a link to a state government website http://pgmasterplan.penang.gov.my/index.php/ms/. This website link is itself misleading as under the section Muat Turun (download), it actually shows details of the original Halcrow Penang transport masterplan, which does not even mention the Pan Island Link. Neither does it mention the SRS contractor-and-developers’ plan, which the state government is so gung-ho about.

Adding to the ‘merriment’, Someone has even set up a parody Facebook page, mocking the Support PTMP Facebook page that no one wants to admit they are running.

Yesterday, BFM Radio interviewed Penang Forum steering committee member Lim Mah Hui about the transport masterplan. You can listen to it here:

Lots of activities have been held all over the place, it is hard to keep up.

All these efforts are being carried out by many concerned ordinary people using their time and talents. But they have their worked cut out for them as they are probably up against a well-funded public relations team or corporate media propaganda department.

Still, as mentioned last week, the public opposition to this ill-conceived contractor-and-developers’ highway project looks set to grow even further and surpass the Save Penang Hill campaign around 1990 and the Stop Penang Global City Centre campaign in 2007-2008, both of which halted hugely controversial projects in their tracks.

On a parting note, check out how highways wrecked American cities: