GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) can reject the renewals of planning permission for special projects, according to a former town planning department director.
Khoo Boo Soon, a registered urban planner who opted for early retirement in March 2010, said the Penang Island Structure Plan 2020 did not specify that such projects should be given automatic renewals.
He said the term “special project” as indicated in the structure plan was not meant to be used as a prerequisite to grant permission for development above 76m or any other hillslope development.
He said the term was not meant to be an “escape clause” for the state.
“Although certain projects fall under the special project category, the structure plan does not say anything about automatic renewals or automatic approvals,” Khoo told a press conference yesterday.
He said, as the guidelines were very clear, he did not understand why MPPP and state representatives were saying that their hands were tied.
“They are leading the public to believe that they have no powers to disregard what has previously been approved. The fact is, they have every right to reject those renewals.
“They should come out and tell the people the truth,” Khoo said, adding that he was speaking out as he felt the council and the state owed the public an explanation on the hillslope issue.
MPPP president Datuk Patahiyah Ismail said last month that 19 hillslope approvals that exceeded the 76m-height limit could not be rejected based on height as they were classified “special projects”.
Hillslope projects in Penang have come under intense scrutiny in recent months, with various groups staging protests against several of them.
Khoo said the structure plan was initially vague on the definition of special projects but the MPPP and state planners drew up guidelines to define the term in 2009.
The guidelines defined them as major infrastructure or government projects like roads, dams and telecommunication stations. - The Star
No comments:
Post a Comment