Kilang Lee Rubber Co. Pte Ltd di Paya Terubong akan ditutup berkuatkuasa 1 April 2012.
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The state government had received complaints about the factory, which was established in 1965, from surrounding residents. The factory produces 140 tonnes of SMR rubber daily.
The state government was notified of the closure through a letter dated 4 August from the General Manager of Lee Rubber Co Pte Ltd, which has its headquarters in Singapore. The company was set up in 1931 by ‘Rubber and Pineapple King’ Lee Kong Chian, one of South-east Asia’s richest men in the 1950s and 60s.
This was a complaint on Guan Eng’s Facebook on 23 May:
JaYy Jay Sen
Hi CM, I am one of the residents in Paya Terubong Penang. We have been having this foul smell caused by the Lee Rubber Factory. The smell is very terrible and few years ago, government promised to relocate the Lee Rubber but already few decades already still no action was taken. We have thousands of residents here pleading to the State Government to help take some action. We have even confronted Yeoh Soon Hin for help and he has promised to look into it. Dear CM, please help us to look unto this issue as it really has really polluted the air here around the neighbourhood. Thank you very much. Do let us know what we need to do to assist you into taking action. Thanks.
Now, let’s take a similar stand against any other industrial outfits in Penang that may be giving surrounding residents a hard time. People before profits.
One possible factor that may have influenced the decision could be the rising price of real estate in the state. Watch that plot of land to see what happens next.
The full statement from Chief Minister’s office below:
Kerajaan Negeri telah menerima makluman penutupan kilang Lee Rubber Co. Pte Ltd melalui surat yang bertarikh 4hb Ogos 2011 Pengurus Besar Kumpulan Lee Rubber Co. Pte Ltd, Teo Kim Yam yang beribu pejabat di Singapura.
Premis Lee Rubber Co. Pte. Ltd., Jalan Paya Terubung, 11060 Paya Terubung, Pulau Pinang telah beroperasi semenjak tahun 1965. Kilang ini mula dilesenkan oleh Jabatan Alam Sekitar di bawah Seksyen 18(1) Akta Kualiti Alam Sekeliling, 1974 sejak tahun 1979. Premis ini menjalankan operasi mengeluarkan getah SMR dengan kapasiti maksimum pemprosesan sebanyak 140 tan metrik sehari.
Operasi syarikat ini telahpun mendapat perhatian daripada Kerajaan Negeri Pakatan Rakyat sejak mengambil alih pemerintahan pada tahun 2008 berikutan maklum balas dan aduan daripada penduduk tempatan. Kerajaan Negeri telah mengambil pendekatan proaktif bersama dengan ADUN Paya Terubong, YB Yeoh Soon Hin dan ADUN Tanjong Bungah, YB Teh Yee Cheu untuk memastikan operasi kilang ini lebih selaras dengan objektif Kerajaan Negeri PR menjadikan Pulau Pinang sebagai negeri hijau.
Pengurus Lee Rubber Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Encik Chew Chee Bing telah memaklumkan bahawa:
1. Kilang akan berhenti operasi pada 1hb April 2012
2. Pembelian getah akan diteruskan sehingga akhir bulan Februari 2012 (29hb Februari 2012)
3. Operasi pengeluaran akan diteruskan sehingga 31hb Mac 2012Berikutan pengumuman penutupan ini, YAB Ketua Menteri akan bertemu dengan Pengurus Besar Kumpulan Lee Rubber, Encik Teo Kim Yam, di Singapura pada hari Jumaat ini.
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Industry that never grow with time will close down.. with today technology, they should be able to contain the smell if they want to keep operating there. Go learn from JP and TW. If just want to make money without improving, off you go. Heritage is not monopoly.
Yes I agree with you totally….
From what I saw from CM Lim’s video when they close it down, he said they have been investing in new technology to do so, while doing so they have also installed a thing called scrubber cost around RM800k each unit
How can that be silly? It is HIS tory. Why Pudu in KL is called Half Hill Jungle in Chinese just as those street names in Penang? Look what has Yap Ah Loy and Loke Yew did for KL has been erased. The history of Indonesia under Sukarno wanting to crush the formation of Malaysia by Tengku Abd Raham when Indonesia air drop paratroopers over MCA Labis and sea borne landing in Batu Pahat and Port Dickson by marines have not been mentioned by UMNO historians.
This is how you ppl treat the pioneer industries… since u know there is a rubber factory, why u stil move in and stay near to it? 46 years man.. smelly ?? if u know there is a ppl who feed pig, will u still go to stay there?
This is a rather silly comment made.
It is true that the factory was built when Paya Terubong was such a ‘ulu’ area back in 1965. However, Paya Terubong has since developed into a mature housing area with tens of thousands of residents.
With so much pollutants made from a single factory and so many residents affected, I am truly grateful to the state government for answering the residents’ call after so many years.
Paya Terubong is a residential area now and will have no place for such a foul-smell producing factory.
Completely agree with you Sunflower. How can it be right to endanger the health of tens of thousands of people because of a so-called ‘heritage’ factory? Just because a factory is old, doesn’t make it heritage. Health is more important, and unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be a priority for many people on the island, based on the comments here.
Thank you to the state govt and others who have made this wise decision.
You guys have mistaken the whole story. 1) The ****-smell is does not endanger the health based from JAS / DOE. They only annoy us, speaking of durian and fish market itself 2) The govt does not own the land, it’s still under the company’s 3) Rubber still plays a big part in our economy, also provide employment opportunities, if you read the news lately, with palm oil not so performing in the market, the Gov is going back to rubber… ironically after cutting down most of the existing trees…. 4) I was also informed by my friend from a… Read more »
Some people don’t like history b’cos history sucks to remember. All they want is to consume now like the proverbial parasites that only care to satisfy their materialsitic desires regardless of the consequence of their acts or what has happened before in good and bad history. And history sucks because to them there is nothing of good ethical, honorable deeds or social contribution of past ‘heritage’ to learn from.
But solely consuming for the sake of consuming in excess doesn’t contribute an iota of anything good to this physical world, culturally, socially, environmentally or legacy for future generation.
Lee rubber not only provide scholarships but building schools. There is a Lee Rubber school in Gombak – Ulu Place in Kuala Lumpur enable ulu people to study there instead of taking buses to High School next to Traffic mata in High Street next to Lebuh Petaling or going to Maxwell School. There are many top students come from that school. In addition, Lee rubber provide jobs in processing the raw rubber. At that time, who wants to invest in ulu places and who are really the pioneer industries. Now after providing the burial ceremony, they want to kick out… Read more »
I stay at Bandar Baru Air Itam (commonly known as Farlim) since 1995. I have made numerous phone calls to Jabatan Alam Sekitar. They told me that since the smell is not considered pollution, the factory has not broken any law under JAS. I had more or less given up but to endure the smell. How strong is the smell ? Initially I thought there were pig rearing activities nearby To be fair, the factory was there very much earlier than the residents. And Lee Foundation has been helping many poor students by giving scholarships. Anyway, a big thank you… Read more »
Sad to see the closure of another chapter of our Malaysian history…but, what is that to the UMNO jerks! Obviously, they would not like to see that this company play quite a major role in the developments of this nation. Aiyah, contribution by pendatang is not recognized…
How about a Lee Rubber Museum to keep things in memory plus the rubber ‘perfume’ for lingering ambience?
Tunglang is ever ready for museums in Penang.
Obviously your BM translator need some improvement:-
reread again following:
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Operasi syarikat ini telahpun mendapat perhatian daripada **Kerajaan Negeri Pakatan Rakyat** sejak mengambil alih pemerintahan pada tahun 2008 berikutan maklum balas dan aduan daripada penduduk tempatan. Kerajaan Negeri telah mengambil pendekatan proaktif bersama dengan ADUN Paya Terubong, YB Yeoh Soon Hin dan ADUN Tanjong Bungah, YB Teh Yee Cheu untuk memastikan operasi kilang ini lebih selaras dengan objektif Kerajaan Negeri PR menjadikan Pulau Pinang sebagai negeri hijau.
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Lee Rubber still have rubber factory in Penang? Honestly, its a Monument to the towering person that Lee Kong Chian was…
Perlu ditutup supaya Chairman boleh bina kondo ~
Build it next to Gherkin’s mini market.
It’s not just Paya Terubong. On windy days, this perfume can be enjoyed by more people staying further away, and I’m speaking from experience.
If only it could reach Singapore…