Penang govt admits DoE rejected housing project

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang DAP government yesterday acknowledged that the affordable housing project at Lengkok Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah, where a landslide killed 11 people on Saturday here was rejected by the Department of Environment (DoE).

State local government, traffic management and flood mitigation committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said however the project was implemented after obtaining permission and consent from 20 agencies including the Mineral and Geoscience Department on Dec 30, 2014.

“The project was carried out after taking into consideration the views and consent of 20 agencies when the planning permission application was tabled at the Penang Island City Council’s (MBPP) one-stop-centre (OSC) committee meeting on Dec 18, 2015,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

He said the application for planning permission for the construction of the affordable housing project was submitted to MBPP on Nov 26, 2014 and was then referred to technical departments for reviews.

“The building plan for the project was submitted on April 15, 2015, and referred to technical departments for review and approval on May 19, 2015. Commencement of work was approved on Jan 18, 2016,” he said.

DoE in a statement yesterday stated that the developer’s application for the project was rejected because there was not enough buffer zone between the apartment project and nearby quarrying activities, as required by the Guidelines of Siting and Zoning of Industries and Residential Areas.

The quarrying activity was only 162 metres away from the crushing site and between 400 and 500 metres from the quarry blasting site, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Chow said the housing construction site was located in the areas zoned for housing as part of the council’s Development Planning and Policy Plan 1976 and complied with the Safety Guidelines for Hill Site Development 2012 as well as support from the Mineral and Geoscience Department.

The project was approved by MBPP as it complied with the procedures and conditions set by the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, he said.

He also said that the state government has instructed MBPP to lodge a police report on the incident on the basis there was a possibility of a professional negligence involved at the site to enable the police to investigate the accident for further action. - Bernama