Penang Hill Corporation says its cable car project is being carried out in compliance with the law, with approval from the relevant authorities.
PETALING JAYA: Penang Hill Corporation (PHC) says the Penang Hill cable car project does not technically qualify as “mass rapid transport”, and therefore does not require a public display of its environmental impact assessment (EIA) report.
The cable car does not constitute traditional public transport, which typically carries a higher volume of passengers, PHC said in a statement.
“The capacity of the cable car is 1,000 passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD).
“This figure is by far less than the PPHPD numbers served by other electric modes of public transport, including monorails, MRTs and LRTs,” the corporation said.
PHC was responding to Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman, who previously said the cable car project could be considered a “mass rapid transport project” as it involves the transportation of 1,000 passengers per hour to the top of the hill.
She said that under the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 2015, all activities that relate to “transport” are listed as a second schedule activity and require public display and comment.
Meenakshi argued that as such, it was wrong for the environmental department director-general to approve the project’s EIA report without public display or feedback.
PHC said the Penang Hill cable car project had been classified as a first schedule instead of a second schedule activity.
The project is listed under the category of development in slope areas with land clearing comprising less than 50% of the area, with a slope greater than or equal to 25 degrees but less than 35 degrees.
“In such instances, (the order) mandates that the EIA report does not need to be displayed publicly for comment,” PHC said.
To address the issue of approval granted without transparency, PHC said it had conducted tailored focus group discussions as part of the social impact assessment requirement to engage and educate stakeholders.
PHC added that the project was being carried out in compliance with the law, and had received approval from the relevant authorities.Stay current – Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram
“This can be evidenced by the thousands of man-hours dedicated to designs, and numerous rounds of reviews by certified and specialised engineers, architects, and consultants, including international cable car experts from the Doppelmayr Group, ensuring compliance with legal and international safety standards,” it said.
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