GEORGE TOWN, April 27 — Penang Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) landslide win in the 2018 general elections where it won 37 out of 40 state seats was proof that voters supported its massive three-island reclamation project, said Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
He said even the general elections last year showed that there was no erosion of support for PH in the area where the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project is located.
“We have laid it out on the table that this is the project we want to implement and told the people to use their votes to show their support and we won by the biggest majority in 2018,” he said.
The PSR project was first introduced in 2013 and mentioned in the PH manifesto during the 2018 elections.
Chow said it was also mentioned in the Penang PH manifesto in the 15th general elections last year.
Penang PH defended 10 out of 13 parliamentary seats in the 2022 general elections.
PH won with a majority of 1,582 votes for its Balik Pulau parliamentary seat where the PSR project is located.
Based on this, Chow, who is also Penang PH chairman, said PSR would not affect support for PH in the upcoming state polls.
“We can’t stop any parties or groups from politicising this subject,” he said.
He said the PSR project has gone through a long and tedious process.
The Environmental Impact Assessment for PSR was approved by the Department of Environment this month.
Chow yesterday said reclamation works for PSR will start in the third quarter of this year once its Environmental Management Plan is approved.
The PSR, also known as Penang South Islands, is a massive reclamation project to create three islands off the southern coast of Penang island.
