Land users may have to rehabilitate swamp
GEORGE TOWN: The state may require those who “raped” a mangrove swamp in Batu Maung to remove the hundreds of tonnes of soil, sand and construction waste used to fill it up.
State Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said he was waiting for a report on the extent of the damage to the swamp and the state may require the land users to rehabilitate it.
“Even though it was used by a federal agency, they should have applied for planning permission.
“It involves a waterway and a mangrove swamp too and we must be sensitive to the environmental impact,” he said.
The land is owned by the Lands and Mines Office under the supervision of the Fisheries Department.
According to a worker at the site, the one hectare of cleared swamp was a boat repair yard which his company started renting last year. “We usually repair boats of the
- marine police and Marine Depart ment,” the Myanmar worker said, adding that repairing work stopped in November.
He said they were waiting for new projects, likely in February.
He claimed that lorries bearing construction waste entered and dumped their load on the cleared swamp without permission.
The sole worker at the yard said he warned them not to and wanted to take pictures of the dumping.
A hardware shopkeeper across the street said he saw lorries going in occasionally since a year ago.
A check by The Star showed that there were a lorry, two cranes and six motorcycles at the site.
The dirt trail leading into the land was made with broken asphalt to
make a path for heavy vehicles.
According to Google Earth Pro’s satellite picture, taken on Feb 5, the swamp was cleared and hundreds of tonnes of soil and construction waste were thrown in.
The boat repair yard measures about 3,300sq m, while the whole mangrove swamp, surrounded by factories is about 20.5ha.
Construction waste – broken piling columns and chunks of concrete blocks – was strewn around the edges of the swamp.
Batu Maung assemblyman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain said he
received reports of illegal dumping a few months ago and instructed Village Security and Development Committee to monitor and report the areas involved.
“We asked the Land Office to investigate if companies got approval to rent and fill the swamp.
“Any activities that disrupt the environment will not be tolerated.
“I was told that the land lease was approved by the Lands and Mines Office but the area cleared and filled was more than the approved size,” he said.
When contacted, the Fisheries
Department said investigations have been carried out and a report will be sent to the state.
On Dec 26, Penang Island City Council issued a stop-work order to the Land and Mines director-general and the firm renting the land.
The letter stated that they failed to get permission from the council to begin work and therefore have committed an offence under the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974.
The council ordered the parties to submit an earthworks plan, via a qualified engineer, in 30 days.