By Marina Emmanuel

Penang’s civil society – who once were forces standing up against projects like the development of Penang Hill and the (now deposed) Penang Global City Centre – have spoken once more.

This time, their guns are trained on the proposed and much-delayed Penang Local Plan.

Their bone of contention lies in the fact that no proper consultation was carried out among all stakeholders, and the development it permits would affect the island’s liveability.

The Penang Heritage Trust, Penang Forum, Consumers Association of Penang, Penang Public Transport Users Association and Parti Sosialis Malaysia have gone on record urging ratepayers to reject the proposed plan which has been sitting on the back-burner for more than 20 years.

The proposed blueprint was revived shortly before the 15th General Elections two months ago by the Penang Island City Council.

Among the shortcomings raised, included the fact that no provision has been made for affordable housing, threats of (more) skyscrapers dotting the island, and the absence of conservation and preservation of the island’s heritage attributes and not just its designated Unesco World Heritage areas in the inner city.

Alarm bells are being sounded that the state did not reach out to civil society before drafting the plan, but instead, preferred to engage “outside” consultants who may not have their pulse on “local understanding.”

Ratepayers have every right to know how much these consultants who were engaged for the job, have been paid.

Of concern to interested stakeholders is the fact that many ratepayers may not even be aware of the existence of the proposed local plan, let alone be bothered with its long-term implications.

“It is a complicated document,” says a former scribe, “and one which is difficult to navigate through.”

Highlighting that the document comes with “lots of maps” which make it difficult to figure out without falling back on resources from the Penang Geographic Information System Centre (PeGIS), the longtime Penang resident added:

“I am glad smarter people than me can figure it out.”

A briefing session by the state authorities on the Penang Draft Local Plan 2030 is slated for this Saturday for four hours.

Is there enough provision (and time) for the public to ask enough questions before ingesting the contents of the draft and making sense of it?

Elsewhere on the island, there is also a plan to submit to Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, a memorandum objecting to the proposed development blueprint.

Are Penang residents happy to remain on autopilot mode and show no interest that our future generations may end up needing to commute to work in Penang from neighbouring Kedah and Perak in the near future because affordable housing will be a figment of everyone’s imagination by then?

Or will their memories be jolted in the nick of time to the fact that two long-time chief ministers were once deposed for refusing to listen to public input?

With state elections around the corner it will be interesting to watch if Penang residents – who live a David versus Goliath story – will make their voices heard again.