GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Silicon Island (PSI) project can now proceed without any obstructions, conforming to all guidelines and laws, the Penang government said.
This follows the High Court decision this morning, where it dismissed the judicial review filed by seven fishermen to challenge the planning permission granted by the state Town and Country Planning director last August for the project.
The judicial review was filed alongside Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and Jaringan Ekologi dan Iklim (Jedi).
State Infrastructure Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said that with the dismissal of the judicial review, it shows that all planning permissions, including the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Social Impact Assessment (SIA), and other relevant studies conducted, were in compliance with the relevant laws.
"All legal requirements and processes were abided throughout the approval processes and the court'sfindings validate that everything is in order according to the relevant laws.
"Hence, the PSI project will go ahead without any obstructions in conformity to all guidelines and laws to meet the completion of the project.
"I wish to place on record my gratitude to the whole team from the State Legal Advisor's office, State Economic Planning Division (BPEN), Penang Infrastructure Corporation, SRS Consortium Sdn Bhd and other departments who have been working very hard for this case," he said today, following the High Court decision.
Zairil said the PSI project, previously known as Penang South Reclamation, was one of the key projects spearheaded by the Penang government to propel the state into a leading position in the global technology and innovation sectors, besides securing the livelihood of Penangites for the next 30 years.
He said this project is expected to create 220,000 new jobs for Penangites in addition to generating an estimated RM1.1 trillion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and RM74.7 billion in investments.
"However, on Dec 29, last year, a judicial review application was jointly filed in the Penang High Court by nine applicants, including two NGOs against five parties — Director of the Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia), State Planning Committee (SPC), Penang State Government (PSG), SRS Consortium SdnBhd (SRS) and Silicon Island Development Sdn Bhd (SID).
"The Penang government is delighted to announce that the Penang High Court has dismissed this judicial review application today.
"Besides finding that the applicants had exceeded the limitation period to initiate the judicial review application, the court also agreed with the substantive rebuttals of the respondents," he said.