DOE rejected AJA reclamation EIA due to its quality - Malacca exco

Malacca housing, local government and environment committee chairperson Zaidi Attan said the reclamation developers of the massive land reclamation project in Pekan Klebang, Malacca, may re-submit their environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the project, which was rejected due to its quality.

This comes after the Department of Environment (DOE) rejected the EIA report on March 2.

“I understand that the EIA report was not approved by DOE headquarters because of its quality and based on the comments of the expert panel (working on the project).

“The developer needs to re-submit the EIA report with the complete amendments,” he was quoted as saying by Berita Harian.

It was reported yesterday that the report was rejected as it did not fulfil requirements under Section 34A(2C) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

Section 34A (2) of the act states that an EIA report “shall contain an assessment of the impact such activity will have or is likely to have on the environment” and “proposed measures that shall be undertaken to prevent, reduce or control the adverse impact on the environment”.

Project AJA, which is under the Melaka Waterfront Economic Zone (M-WEZ) blueprint, plans to reclaim 300 acres of land in the water area around Pekan Klebang.

The developer is Konsortium Pembangunan Tanah Laut (Melaka) Sdn Bhd.

It was agreed in principle by the Housing and Local Government Ministry but required the developers to submit various reports and get approvals, including the EIA, social impact assessment (SIA), marine risk assessment, fisheries impact assessment, sewerage development plan and hydrodynamic study.

However, the entire project potentially criteria listed in the National Physical Plan 4 (RFN4).

It was also reported that Umno leaders are linked to the AJA reclamation project.

Soil erosion

Meanwhile, the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) has urged M-WEZ to be stopped entirely.

Its president Muhammad Faisal Abdul Aziz, in a statement today, cited environmental reasons such as soil erosion, worsening floods and destruction of marine life.

“To add, it will only further affect the lives of fisherfolk who were already impacted by the previous reclamation that occurred in the area.

“The recent floods, as well as environmental incidents, should make us aware that we need to bring serious attention to environmental conservation, as it directly impacts our lives,” he said.

Malaysiakini previously reported that the previous reclamation severely affected the livelihood of fisherfolk who were unable to catch fish.

M-WEZ is expected to take up 25,000 acres of land and cover 33km of Malacca coastline.

Earlier this month, DOE said that from 1999 until now, 11 reclamation projects located in the M-WEZ area had been approved, covering 1,091.72ha (about 2,698 acres) of land.

In other words, 89 percent of the land is yet to be reclaimed under the 25,000-acre M-WEZ project.

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