A group of low-cost flat residents in Penang are up in arms against the developer of a nearby upper class housing project for wanting to share their sewage treatment plant.

They found it 'questionable' that the rich and wealthy would want to interfere in their daily lives instead of building a separate plant to take care of their own waste.

They actually perceived the situation as a class issue, lamenting that they being victimised by having to "give up" their share of the facility to the rich.

"Why should the rich share the treatment plant of the poor?" they asked. "Why can't they have their own plant?

"The one we have is already so smelly, with increased capacity, people or homes using it, the smell is going to get worse," they cried.

NONE "Are we supposed to accept this or can we reject it? We want to know whose orders it is that they are asked to share our plant?" asked a very upset Kadrr Mohd Pitchay ( left ), the Taman Teluk Kumbar residents association chairperson.

He was venting his spleen on the topic and various other issues affecting the residents at a dialogue session among the concerned parties arranged by the Penang Municipal Council yesterday.

Steaming for not being consulted

The residents are furious for not being consulted earlier on the plan, condemning the manner in which the project was being bulldozed into their lives.

Kadrr, a vocal local leader and a taxi driver by profession, said the sewage plant issue is not the residents's only headache.

The project, involving 85 double-storey link-houses across from their five-storey flat, has given rise to a host of other problems like messy road construction, with the consequent massive traffic jams in the area.

Dust and noise polution mar their daily lives even though the flats are located along a very scenic beach, as construction works continue.

NONE To top it all, the residents are grumbling that their own flat management is "useless" for not attending to their grievances - like no garbage bins and potholes not filled - even though the 600 units pay monthly maintenance fees of RM30 each.

Indeed, sitting in the dialogue session with the residents, one can conclude that they felt like sacrificial lambs, having to bear the brunt of development by the rich for the wealthy.

It is this outcry which prompted Penang Municipal councillor Iszuree Ibrahim to organise the dialogue session for the residents, developer Sunway City Berhad, and Indah Water Konsortium Penang.

Pros of waste facility sharing

During the session, Penang IWK certifying agency manager Devan Iyaroo said it would be more environmentally friendly if the residents shared instead of building extra sewage plants.

He added that IWK did not have any guidelines or concept of "rich or poor" and that "people were just people" entitled to the same facilities.

He could not guarantee that upgrading the capacity of the plant would reduce the smell or pollution in the area, saying "no matter what, sewage is bound to be smelly".

He said the developer would have been very happy to have its own facility as it would be cheaper than to construct a connecting pipeline to the existing one.

Although the developer is supposed to start work in a week's time, added Devan, the matter would not be forced on the residents.

"We are willing to listen to the residents, that's why we are here for a dialogue," he said, adding that if the rejection is strong, an alternative site would be found.

A Sunway spokesperson, who requested anonymity, concurred witth Devan that it would have been cheaper for the developer to have its own treatment plant.

Compassionate developer argues case

Building a connecting line to the existing plant means the developer has to fork out another RM100,000 for underground piping instead of open excavation, to avoid inconveniencing the residents, he said.

He appealed to them to cooperate with the developer to reduce to the minimum the problems arising from the matter.

He denied that there had been no consultation between the residents and the developer, saying that a notice had been issued to residents, which the latter said they had not received.

"We are sorry if the message did not go to everyone but we expected that the Joint Management Board (JMB) had relayed the news to everyone," he said.

"It would be impossible for us to meet every resident, which is why we relied on the JMB to reach out to others," he added.

JMB is a joint committee of the residents' association, the municipal council and the developer's management committee, where the various groups are at loggers head with one another hit by serious communication issues.

JMB chairperson Abdul Razak Husain reminded the residents that there had been meetings regarding the issue but an agreement had not been reached yet.

"Everyone was invited to the meeting but only the ones who paid the flat management fees were allowed to attend the session... so there is a perception that some of the residents were not consulted," he explained.

NONE Meanwhile, Iszuree ( left ) said there was a basis for the deep dissatisfaction among the residents with the developer and joint management board as the former felt marginalised during the decision making process of the plans affecting their homes.

"Before a plan is put in place, the three major groups - residents, joint management board and developer - must sit together to discuss matters, whether they are sincere or not, that is another question," he said, during the concluding session.

"It is not fair to treat the residents in this manner...if the developer wants to maintain his own attitude (of not consulting the residents)... then the dissatisfaction would definitely persist," he added.