Penang Forum, a group of NGOs concerned over hill slope development on the island, has taken the state planning committee, chaired by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, to task for unnecessarily widening the definition of 'special projects' under its 2009 project guidelines.

Penang Forum’s Agatha Foo said the committee should have restricted special projects to cover only areas above 250 feet which have been re-zoned for housing (bungalows) in the Pelan Dasar and have been granted planning permission before the adoption of the Structure Plan.

“It (the committee) should not have widened the definition to include other areas that might have been re-zoned for housing in the Pelan Dasar but have not been granted planning permission,” Foo said at a dialogue session with Lim in George Town today.

“Should there be any land titles which have been converted for building (housing) before (the adoption of) the Structure Plan, they can be dealt with on a case-by-case basis,” she added.

Foo said the state authority should have in 2009 also amended the 1996 Pelan Dasar to re-zone land above 250ft from housing land back to hill land, especially for those without planning permissions.

She claimed the local and state authority can 'internally' amend the Pelan Dasar as it was just a guideline and has not been gazetted.

“Landowners who have not taken any action to develop their land since 1996 cannot complain about any amendment to the 1996 Pelan Dasar,” she said.

'Special projects' are those that allow housing on hills above 250ft or with more than a 25 degree gradient (defined as 'sensitive hills', according to the 2020 Penang Structure Plan).

The issue arose when the state legislative assembly sitting in November last year revealed that between 2008 and 2015, there were 56 projects (legal and approved) and another 68 illegal land-clearing cases on 'sensitive hills'.

Also present at the three-hour dialogue today in George Town were former university don Sharom Ahmat, Aliran’s Anil Netto, Penang Island city councillor Lim Mah Hui, biologist Kam Suan Pheng, architect Lawrence Loh, environmentalist Leong Yueh Kwong and Malaysian Nature Society’s Nanda Kumar and Consumer Association Penang’s Mohideen Abdul Kadir.

Lim agreed to today's dialogue after the NGOs held a public forum on 'Save Our Hills' on Dec 12, which was well-attended, and discussed the state authority's lack of interest in protecting the island’s hills and forests.

Foo said the issue of compensation of purchase notice was irrelevant to its contentions related to hill slope development.

Legal advice first

Foo raised the issue as Lim had always been defending his decision to allow 'special projects' for fear of being sued by developers for 'hundred of millions' for any cancellation of projects.

She said the NGO’s contentions do not relate to the revocation or modification of planning permission or issuance of a requisition notice requiring land for public purpose.

She said compensation was payable only if the local council issues a requisition notice to discontinue development or impose new conditions after development has commenced or to alter/remove any buildings or works.

“Furthermore, a purchase notice requiring the local authority to purchase land is only applicable where the application for planning permission has been refused on the grounds that the land was intended for public purpose.

“(When this happens), the land has therefore become incapable of reasonable beneficial use to the landowner or that a requisition notice has been issued by the local authority."

In response, Lim said he was willing to revisit the issue raised by Penang Forum and urged Foo to discuss the NGO’s contention with the state legal adviser.

“We relied on the advice of the state legal adviser for our decisions but you are free to discuss the matter with her. We have a new state legal adviser now; you can try and see whether she is willing to change or follow the view of her predecessor,” Lim said.

“We cannot be taking a plunge into the Netherworld as we are looking into hundreds of millions of ringgit in compensation,” he said.

“But if we do not have to pay such compensation, why not?” Lim said.