GEORGE TOWN: The Department of Environment said claims made by an individual in a TikTok video titled "Penang South Islands (PSI) Being Cursed?" were inaccurate.
DOE director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar said claims made by the individual were also misleading to the public.
In the TikTok video, which has been made viral by certain parties regarding the development in Penang, the individual claimed that it was difficult to obtain approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report from the DOE for the PSI project.
The individual in the video also claimed that the PSI (previously known as the Penang South Reclamation) project was facing EIA approval problems compared to projects in other states, such as Johor, Melaka, Sabah and Kedah, that implemented projects without an EIA report approval and also without being specified in the Structure Plan.
"The fact is that the EIA report for the PSI project, which is said to be difficult to get approved, was already approved in 2019.
"The new EIA report is being evaluated by DOE and other technical agencies," he said today.
He, however, said the objections from the Penang Fishermen's Association led to a hearing at the Appeals Board under Section 35 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
The Appeals Board's decision set aside the approval of the EIA report due to contradictions with Section 34A(4) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974, related to development zoning that had not been approved by the Penang state authority at that time.
"The new EIA report has been submitted to the DOE.
"It is still in the evaluation stage by the DOE and has been distributed for evaluation by other technical agencies," he said, adding that the assessment procedure for all EIA reports was outlined in the Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline in Malaysia (EGIM) and also complied with the application of internal procedures that had been certified under MS ISO 9001:2015.
According to Wan Abdul Latiff, the approval of the EIA report by the DOE is an approval of the study report carried out by the EIA consultant in relation to the potential impact that may occur if the development is implemented and detailing the mitigation measures to reduce the impact on the environment.
He said the evaluation of the project's report was made in the EIA Evaluation Technical Committee, which is made up of other agencies such as PLANMalaysia, Fisheries Department, Health Department, Irrigation and Drainage Department, Minerals and Geosciences Department, Malaysian Marine Department, Public Works Department, Town and Country Planning Department, Penang Port Commission, individuals appointed with specific expertise, as well as non-governmental organisations.
He added that for the EIA report under the Second Schedule, public exhibitions and public feedback were carried out to provide an opportunity for all parties to submit their feedback in relation to the content of the EIA report, whether in terms of policy, legislation and technical issues related to the project.
"It is not a platform for objections against the project.
"The need would be to meet Section 34A(3) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and so as not to conflict with Section 34A (4)(a) and (b) of the same Act is given serious attention to the evaluation of the EIA report.
"The final decision for the approval of this development project is under the authority that approves the project, which is the Penang state government," he said.