Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The...

20
1 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 31st December 2016 Prepared by

Transcript of Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The...

Page 1: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

1

Penang Hills Watch Report 2016

31st December 2016

Prepared by

Page 2: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

2

Contents

1.0 Introduction ......................................................................................... 3

2.0 Records of public observations ........................................................... 4

2.1 Zone 1: Northern Part of Penang Island ........................................... 5

2.2 Zone 2: Middle Part of Penang Island ............................................ 10

2.3 Zone 3: Southern Part of Penang Island ......................................... 17

3.0 Follow up ........................................................................................... 20

Page 3: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

3

Penang Hills Watch Report 2016

1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

2016, with an invitation to the public to contribute on-the-ground observations on hill clearing

activities. Thus far, we have received 40 cases of land clearing and construction activities on the

island, which we have documented, mapped and displayed online through the PHW portal

https://hillclearinginpenang.ushahidi.io/views/map.

A week before the launch, PF members requested and had a meeting with a number of

government agencies including Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang (MBPP), Jabatan Perhutanan

Negeri Pulau Pinang (JPNPP), Jabatan Ukur dan Pemetaan Malaysia (JUPEM) and Jabatan

Perancang Bandar Dan Desa Pulau Pinang (JPBDPP) when we explained the purpose of the

PHW project and demonstrated the online application.

We emphasized that the observations made in the field need to be checked against official

records to determine if the clearing activities have official approval or, if otherwise, whether

these activities need to be checked out and acted upon by the relevant government authorities.

We therefore suggested close cooperation with MBPP and other relevant government

departments for mutual exchange of information, and our suggestion was well received at the

meeting.

This report constitutes our first compilation of observations since the launch at the end of

October 2016. Some of the cases which are on the PHW page have been independently

investigated by the relevant authorities and thus have been filtered out from this report.

So while there are 40 reports which have been received by PHW, we seek clarification for 29 out

of these 40 reports. We intend to produce quarterly reports starting from 2017, and to duly

submit to MBPP for the said purpose. The details of this first set of field observations are

provided below.

Page 4: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

4

2.0 Records of public observations PHW reports have been obtained from various locations around Penang State and while the

scope of PHW includes the whole of Penang State ( including Seberang Perai), the reports

received thus far by PHW in this first report are only from localities on Penang Island. Thus this

first report covers sites in Penang Island only.

Each report is identified by

A photo (or photos)

Nearest township or road

Approximate coordinates

Report and Photo date (Photo dates might vary from the report date)

Reports are grouped by three zones where they are obtained from. The zones are as follows;

Zone 1 - Northern part of Penang Island

Zone 2 - Middle part of Penang Island

Zone 3 - Southern part of Penang Island

The location of these regions are indicated in the illustrated map below with their locations as

numbered earlier. Zone 1 has 10 reports, Zone 2 has 14 reports and Zone 3 has 5 reports,

bringing the total number of reports for investigation to 29 .

Photo 1: Three zones covered in the PHW Report

Page 5: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

5

2.1 Zone 1: Northern Part of Penang Island

Report 1

Location : Near Lorong Lembah Permai 3.

Approximate Coordinates : 5°27'13.02"N, 100°16'52.89"E

Report sent in August 2016.

Photos taken in October 2016 and January 2016 respectively.

Report 2

Location : Beside Jalan Mount Erskine

Approximate Coordinates : 5°26'52.84"N,100°18'1.91"E

Report sent in September 2016.

Photos taken in September 2016 and October 2016.

Page 6: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

6

Report 3

Location : Near Jalan Chan Siew Teong

Approximate Coordinates : 5°27'55.28"N, 100°16'28.66"E

Report sent in October 2016.

Photo taken in November 2016.

Report 4

Location : Near Jalan Chan Siew Teong

Approximate Coordinates: 5°27'53.87"N,100°16'30.58"E

Report sent in September 2016.

Photo taken in October 2016 and September 2016.

Page 7: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

7

Report 5

Location : Hillslope near Penang National Park (Can be seen from Teluk Bahang Dam)

Approximate Coordinates : 5°27'14.42"N,100°12'12.38"E

Report sent in November 2016.

Photos taken in November 2016.

Report 6

Location : Near Lorong Lembah Permai (Bukit Lang slope).

Approximate Coordinates: 5°26'56.24"N,100°16'50.40"E

Report sent in December 2016.

Photo taken in December 2016.

Page 8: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

8

Report 7

Location : Beside Jalan Sungai 1, Batu Ferringghi, near Batu Ferringghi Aqueduct.

Approximate Coordinates : 5°28'1.11"N, 100°14'58.98"E

Report sent in August 2016.

Photo taken in July 2016.

Report 8

Location : Near Jalan Batu Gantong

Approximate Coordinates : 5°25'14.79"N,100°17'40.57"E

Report sent in October 2016.

Photo taken in October 2016.

Page 9: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

9

Report 9

Location : Near Solok Kejora 2

Approximate Coordinates : 5°27'6.75"N,100°17'33.03"E

Report sent in December 2016.

Photo taken in December 2016.

Report 10

Location : 1.37km northeast (uphill) from Bandar Baru Air Putih

Approximate Coordinates : 5°22'47.98"N,100°13'48.27"E

Report sent in December 2016.

Photo taken in December 2016.

Page 10: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

10

2.2 Zone 2: Middle Part of Penang Island

Report 11

Location : Near Cangkat Bukit Gambir.

Approximate Coordinates : 5°22'23.11"N,100°17'28.57"E

Report sent in August 2016.

Photos taken in January 2016.

Report 12

Location : Near Lebuh Rambai 1

Approximate Coordinates : 5°22'51.35"N,100°16'45.90"E

Report sent in August 2016.

Photos taken in August 2016

Page 11: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

11

Report 13

Location : Near Tingkat Paya Terubong 4

Approximate Coordinates : 5°22'0.68"N,100°16'36.41"E

Report sent in August 2016.

Photo taken in August 2016.

Report 14

Location : Near Jalan Paya Terubong

Approximate Coordinates : 5°21'18.34"N,100°16'28.51"E

Report sent in August 2016.

Photos taken in August 2016.

Page 12: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

12

Report 15

Location : Near Lintang Bukit Jambul 1

Approximate Coordinates : 5°20'38.47"N,100°16'52.82"E

Report sent in August 2016.

Photos taken in November 2016 and 2014.

Report 16

Location : 1.8km west (horizontal distance) from Jalan Paya Terubong. On Bukit Penara and

Bukit Relau Range (Near/Inside Bukit Relau Forest Reserve)

Approximate Coordinates: 5°21'51.22"N, 100°15'26.67"E

Report sent in August 2016.

Photos taken in August 2016.

Page 13: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

13

Report 17

Location : Beside Jalan Tun Sardon

Approximate Coordinates: 5°21'4.61"N,100°15'14.05"E

Report sent in October 2016.

Photo taken in October 2016.

Report 18

Location : Near Jalan Tun Sardon (Near/Inside Bukit Relau Permanent Forest Reserve.)

Approximate Coordinates: 5°20'49.38"N,100°15'7.03"E

Report sent in October 2016.

Photo taken in October 2016.

Page 14: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

14

Report 19

Location : 0.35km east (horizontal distance) from Jalan Tun Sardon (Bukit Pondok Upeh slope).

Approximate Coordinates: 5°20'30.40"N,100°14'58.24"E.

Report sent in October 2016.

Photo taken in October 2016.

Report 20

Location : 1.6km west (horizontal distance) from Jalan Paya Terubong. On Bukit Penara and

Bukit Relau Range (Near/Inside Bukit Relau Forest Reserve).

Approximate Coordinates: 5°21'52.30"N,100°15'33.93"E

Report sent in August 2016.

Photo taken in August 2016.

Page 15: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

15

Report 21

Location : Persiaran Bukit Gambir

Approximate Coordinates: 5°21'38.42"N,100°17'19.50"E

Report sent in November 2016.

Photo taken in November 2016.

Report 22

Location : Jalan Bukit Gambir

Approximate Coordinates: 5°22'2.11"N,100°17'44.78"E

Report sent in November 2016.

Photo taken in November 2016.

Page 16: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

16

Report 23

Location : 1.10km eastward (uphill) from Jalan Bukit Gambir (Bukit Kukus Slope)

Approximate Coordinates: 5°21'57.50"N,100°17'14.94"E

Report sent in December 2016.

Photo taken in December 2016.

Report 24

Location : Beside Jalan Paya Terubong.

Approximate Coordinates: 5°22'11.59"N,100°16'26.19"E

Report sent in November 2016.

Photo taken in November 2016.

Page 17: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

17

2.3 Zone 3: Southern Part of Penang Island

Report 25

Location : 1.13km northeast of Bandar Baru Teluk Kumbar (Bukit Papan slope)

Approximate Coordinates: 5°18'7.92"N, 100°14'16.50"E

Report sent in October 2016.

Photo taken in October 2016.

Report 26

Location : 0.10km northwest of Jalan Teluk Kumbar

Approximate Coordinates : 5°17'42.52"N,100°15'19.25"E

Report sent in November 2016.

Photo taken in November 2016.

Page 18: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

18

Report 27

Location : 0.53km northwest and uphill (horizontal distance) from Jalan Teluk Kumbar.

Approximate Coordinates: 5°17'53.12"N,100°14'59.19"E

Report sent in October 2016.

Photo taken in October 2016.

Report 28

Location : Near Persiaran Kelicap.

Approximate Coordinates: 5°18'30.50"N,100°15'34.24"E

Report sent in October 2016.

Photo taken in October 2016.

Page 19: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

19

Report 29

Location : Near Jalan Bayan Lepas (Kampung Batu Maung)

Approximate Coordinates: 5°17'0.35"N,100°17'21.64"E

Report sent in December 2016.

Photo taken in December 2016.

Page 20: Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 - Penang Forum3 Penang Hills Watch Report 2016 1.0 Introduction The Penang Hills Watch (PHW) was publicly launched by the Penang Forum (PF) on 31 October

20

3.0 Follow up We seek MBPP’s assistance to look through the above observed reports and comment:

1. If the land clearing activity is legally sanctioned;

2. The purpose of the land clearing activity;

3. The land use status of the affected site;

4. If the activity is legal, the highest elevation from sea level in the activity site, and

5. If any action needs to be taken on the part of the Council or other government

departments.

We can then duly complete the records published on the PHW portal with accurate and

authoritative information. The people of Penang would welcome such openness on the part of the

authorities, which will be in line with the State’s CAT policy.

We also note that the Penang State Government is monitoring land clearing activities using

drones, as reported a month ago (STAR, 26 November 2016). As revealed, it has successfully

detected 40 cases of illegal hill clearing. We would like to know if some or all of these 40 cases

are different from the observations we have compiled here. If there are different cases we would

like to request if the geographical locations of these cases can be shared with us for uploading to

the PHW portal. This would be one way to engage the Penang public to exercise vigilance in

conducting ground checks as needed.

We look forward to your assistance and attention to the cases which were highlighted and hope

to receive your written answer in regards to it.

Thank you.

Penang Forum Steering Committee

31st of December 2016