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Penangites fume over PGCC deception at packed forum

Anil Netto
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PGCC forum crowd

Angry and disgusted: Strong views from Penangites

Before the public forum this morning, organisers in the PGCC Campaign Group, a network of activists representing more than half a dozen Penang-based NGOs, were privately fretting over whether they would get a decent turnout at the seminar rooms of the Dewan Sri Pinang.

They needn’t have worried. Close to 300 people showed up to express their concern and disgust over the implications of the proposed Penang Global City Centre, referred to by some as the “Penang Graveyard and Crematorium Complex” due to its proximity to the Batu Gantong crematorium and the Western Road cemetery, not to mention its resemblance to an array of tombstones. Extra chairs had to be brought in, and even these were not enough and some had to stand at the back and at the sides of the hall.

These concerned Penangites sacrificed their Sunday morning and spent an hour and a half listening to two panel speakers before taking to the floor to express their own strong views against the PGCC.

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PGCC and the “National Policy on the Environment”

Anil Netto
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A reader has alerted me to a creature known as the National Policy on the Environment.

It can be found on the Mida website. Just one question: do you think the PGCC complies with it – especially the bit about “ensuring the highest commitment to environmental protection and accountability by all decision-makers in the public and private sectors, resource users, non-governmental organisations and the general public in formulating, planning and implementing their activities”?

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PGCC: Now you don’t see it…

Anil Netto
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Turf club land

The Penang Turf Club land as it stands now (without the Penang Global City Centre) in the distance as seen from Komtar.

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Angry Penangites speak out against PGCC

Anil Netto
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Sentiment against the PGCC is clearly running high, judging from the angry and disgusted comments I have been receiving from concerned Penangites.

Here’s a sample of comments:

Regarding the sale of the Turf Club land, the sale of the Batu Kawan land etc:

What exactly was the role of the Penang Development Corporation in all this?

How did rank outsider Patrick Lim get the better of Ananda Krishnan, who was eyeing another KLCC-type deal, in acquiring the Turf Club land?

Who chairs the PDC Board? Who decides on re-zoning? It’s time the State government came clean on this, don’t you think?

The PDC or its chairman and the Chief Minister should be invited to the PGCC Campaign forum this Sunday to explain the role of the state in this project.

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Aliran Monthly contributor John Hilley arrested near Glasgow

Anil Netto
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The Glasgow-based political scientist and activist, John Hilley, who writes on global justice issues for Aliran Monthly, was among over 170 peaceful protesters arrested in Faslane, 25 miles from Glasgow, on 1 Oct 2007, at the culmination of a year-long protest against the siting of Trident missiles at a naval base there. He tells me it was an “uplifting experience” and you can see why from the video clip above.

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Attack on Iran foiled?

Anil Netto
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While our attention was focused on Burma, a dramatic incident took place in the Middle East: Israel’s air-strike on a reputed Syrian nuclear facility on 6 September. The Israelis appear to have coordinated the raid with the White House, says Jonathan Cook. “The reasoning was simple: before an attack on Iran could be countenanced, Hizbullah in Lebanon had to be destroyed and Syria at the very least cowed. The plan was to isolate Tehran on these two other hostile fronts before going in for the kill.”

Well, we know that Bush and the neo-cons have been itching to take on Iran – and it could happen sooner than we think.

But the Wayne Madsen Report makes a stunning claim:

A major US attack on Iran using nuclear and conventional weapons was scheduled to coincide with Israel’s 6 Sept strike on the reputed Syrian facility in Dayr az-Zwar, near the the Turkish border. Israel’s attack, code named Operation Orchard, was to provide a reason for the US to strike Iran. But it was apparently foiled when the US Air Force and intelligence community allegedly refused to fly cruise missiles with nuclear war heads to the Middle East. But was there even more to this than met the eye?

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Have the generals won in Burma?

Anil Netto
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So thousands of heavily armed soldiers are patrolling the streets of the Burmese capital, Rangoon, forcing the peaceful protesters off the streets.

Have the hopes and prayers for democracy in Burma been totally crushed? Have the pro-democracy protesters been defeated?

Not by a long shot.

When a government resorts to bullets and clubs to suppress peaceful demonstrators, you know they have lost all moral authority and it is just a matter of time before the regime is dumped into the ash heap of history.

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PGCC: It’s 40 towers, not 37

Anil Netto
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So the latest count is 40 towers of more than 10 storeys each, higher than our earlier estimate of 37 towers.

This is the count, based on the permission plan. Download the plan below by clicking on the link and note the 5-storey podiums for car parks in this “zero-carbon” city.

PGCC permission plan

PGCC: There go the angsana trees

Anil Netto
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angsana

My sources tell me that the PGCC developer’s consultants said yesterday they would avoid cutting down the trees along Scotland Road but admitted that some angsana trees would have to make way for the road widening/flyover work, especially near the Jalan Batu Gantong junction, to cope with the extra traffic anticipated.

These trees are actually heritage trees. Some concerned Penangites pasted posters (see picture above) on the trees likely to be affected. One person who has seen the plan told me that perhaps a few dozen trees would have to be chopped down.

By this morning, the posters had disappeared.

The threat to the trees flies in the face of the assurance given by PGCC master-planner Nasrine Seraji, which was reported in the New Straits Times:

Paris-based architect Nasrine Seraji also gave the assurance that the angsana trees along Jalan Scotland would not have to make way for the project.

“Residents in the neighbouring Jesselton area can also expect a better view, improved air quality and enhanced property values,” she said here yesterday.

(Have I taken her comments out of context?!)

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Lawyers’ march, Burma’s struggle, PGCC campaign all related

Anil Netto
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PGCC miniature model

This is a more realistic miniature model of what the PGCC will look like – Awful!

What do the lawyers marching in Putrajaya, the ordinary people struggling for democracy in Burma and those campaigning against the Penang Global City Centre Project have in common?

They are all part of the global justice movement, trying to create a real alternative to the decaying structures and oppressive forces in society. Trying to build a more just and sustainable world – a world where human dignity is respected and no one is oppressed. A world where the environment – God’s gift to humanity – is considered sacred.

So congratulations to the 1,500 courageous Malaysians who marched in Putrajaya despite the obstacles in their path. Even though the police stopped the buses from entering Putrajaya, the lawyers got off and started walking.

As lawyers committed to the cause of justice, you have given all Malaysians a ray of hope. You have lit a candle – nay, a thousand five hundred candles – in the darkness that shrouds our land. Let’s continue to call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (Read Aliran president P Ramakrishnan’s latest statement rejecting the 3-man “independent” panel, headed by Haidar, who played an appalling role in the 1988 judicial crisis.)

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