GEORGE TOWN – The Penang government has no issue with gazetting the Middle Bank seagrass bed as a marine sanctuary, but the process can only proceed once the surrounding development projects are completed, the state assembly was told today.
State Housing and Environment executive councillor Datuk Seri S. Sundarajoo (Perai-PH) said there are projects previously approved by the state government, and if the seagrass bed is gazetted first, it would prevent those projects from going ahead.
“Therefore, we want to finish these projects, and then only we proceed with the gazetting,” he said while winding up the debate on the motion of thanks to the governor at the state assembly.
“All the paperwork to gazette this (Middle Bank) has been completed, it is just that we are planning to slightly delay (the process).
“It (the gazetting) will happen, it is just that it will be slightly late.”
He was responding to Lee Khai Loon (Machang Bubok-PH), who asked whether the state plans to gazette the seagrass bed and when the process would commence.
Lee interjected and asked the executive councillor to provide timelines for the surrounding projects, as well as any mitigation measures to ensure Middle Bank would not be damaged.
In response, Sundarajoo said every project would have to undergo social impact, traffic impact, and environmental impact assessments before it can commence.
“On the timeline, since these projects also include the relocation of the fishermen there as well, we have no idea how long it will take. But they will go on.
“…and our dream to (gazette the Middle Bank) will come true after we have settled the issues surrounding the Middle Bank,” he added.
Earlier, Local Government and Town and Country Planning executive councillor Jason H’ng Mooi Lye (Jawi-PH) told Lee in a written reply that designating Middle Bank as an environmentally sensitive area would trigger stricter regulations, including the need for a Second Schedule Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for any project within a 500m radius.
The gazetting will affect several planned projects nearby, including the Penang Port expansion, he added.
Sundarajoo’s statement comes as the state government faces calls from Jelutong residents in Karpal Singh Drive waterfront to gazette Middle Bank, following the proposal of a rehabilitation project for the nearby landfill.
The project includes reclaiming land off the landfill coast, which will extend to the waterfront. The landfill is located next to the seagrass bed.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow claimed in March that the seagrass bed would not be affected by the proposed projects.
However, the Protect Karpal Singh Drive action committee (ProtectKarpal), a pro-tem group formed by residents opposing the reclamation, refuted Chow’s statement, saying scientific evidence – and even the project developer – highlighted the sensitivity of Middle Bank in the project’s EIA report.
ProtectKarpal also stated that even if Chow’s claims of no physical encroachment on Middle Bank are true, reclamation activities will still have devastating impacts on the area’s ecosystem.
Middle Bank is a 10 sqkm seagrass meadow off the eastern coast of Jelutong, where the landfill that juts into the sea is slated for reclamation as part of a rehabilitation project to turn the area into prime real estate.
Its ecological value lies in its 429 species of seagrass, commercial fish, birds, marine mammals, turtles, molluscs, and arthropods, as recorded by the Penang Institute in a report, Protecting Penang’s Marine Biodiversity: Establishing the Middle Bank Marine Sanctuary. – May 21, 2025