GEORGE TOWN, Feb 7 — Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) has told Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow to stop misleading the public on the approval for the foreign workers’ hostel in Teluk Kumbar.

PRM vice-chairman Ravinder Singh said today the state planning committee (SPC) had approved the re-zoning of the lands to allow for high-rise, high-density development.

"Projects approved by SPC cannot be cancelled by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP),” he said in a press conference today.

He was referring to remarks by Chow that the SPC does not have the authority to cancel planning permission approvals given by MBPP.

There are two proposed foreign workers’ hostels in Teluk Kumbar, one of them had submitted an application for planning permission and it was approved by MBPP.

Ravinder said Chow should not make the MBPP a scapegoat for the approval of the Teluk Kumbar hostels by the SPC which was chaired by him.

"The MBPP cannot give approval for any project if the status of the land is not correct for the kind of project proposed,” he said.

He said therefore the status of the plots of land — for example, plot density and land use — for the hostels had to be changed first to allow for high-rise, high-density development.

He claimed the SPC approved the rezoning of the lands to allow for high-density high-rise buildings through the use of "guidelines”.

"This method is illegal as determined by the Federal Court in the Sungai Ara Hill development case,” he said.

"It is ultra-vires the Town and Country Planning Act 1976,” he added.

He voiced PRM’s support for the Teluk Kumbar residents in their objections against the foreign workers’ hostels, and claimed residents were not consulted before SPC approved the rezoning of the land.

"We note that proper accommodation for factory workers is an international requirement, but the factories on the island are not demanding that such accommodation be provided in Teluk Kumbar,” he said.

He said the SPC should not be pandering to the desires of the developers to build the hostels in Teluk Kumbar, as there are 12,000 hectares of industrial land in Penan and 95 per cent of it in Seberang Perai.

"This is where the hostels should be located,” he said.

He said the most convenient location for workers at the factories in Bayan Lepas is Batu Kawan as it is directly connected through the jam-free second bridge that will take only 20 minutes.

"No more worker hostels should be built on the Island of Penang,” he said.

He also proposed that future industrial development should include a requirement to build workers’ accommodation within their own boundaries so that the workers can walk to their workplaces in not more than 15 minutes.

He also questioned PLANMalaysia of the approval for the rezoning of the plots of lands in Teluk Kumbar for the hostels in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Act 1976.

"PLANMalaysia as guardian of the TCPA has a duty to explain how re-zoning of the lots in Teluk Kumbar using guidelines can be legally right if using guidelines to approve the 600-unit housing project on Sungai Ara Hill was illegal as found by the Federal Court,” he said.