Under the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities)(Environmental Impact Assessment) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974, he said, expressways and national highways are exempted from carrying out environmental impact assessments (EIAs).
Since the 5km bypass road was considered a “collector road”, it was included in the category exempted from EIAs, Jagdeep (DAP-Dato Keramat) said.
A collector road moves traffic from local streets to larger arterial roads, typically providing access to residential properties.
Jagdeep also showed a letter from the Public Works Department to the geotechnical consultants, dated Jan 26, 2015, declaring the road as a connector road.
He said the letter was forwarded to the Department of Environment (DoE) which replied on Feb 6, 2015, confirming that the project did not need an EIA.
An EIA is usually required for projects in sensitive hill areas. On Tuesday, however, Jagdeep told the state assembly that the bypass road had been exempted from the EIA by the federal DoE.
He added that an environmental management plan (EMP) and erosion and sedimentation control plan (ESCP) had been put in place to prevent any unwanted incidents.
Following the landslide which occurred at the site on Oct 19, he said, the Penang government was looking into whether those executing the project had violated these two plans.
Jagdeep was responding to Mohd Yusni Mat Piah (PAS-Penaga), who had asked about the lack of an EIA for the road project.
On a further question concerning the safety of the construction site and workers, Jagdeep said existing procedures would be improved to prevent similar mishaps from occurring again.
The landslide at Bukit Kukus saw 42,000 tonnes of earth fall from a hill slope, sweeping away 12 container cabins with 13 foreign construction workers in them, nine of whom died.
The 5km bypass road, hugging the hills of Bukit Kukus, linking Bandar Baru Air Itam and Relau, is part of the RM530 million project undertaken by the Penang Island City Council and two private developers.
The road will mostly be built by the council, while a 1.4km stretch will be built by PLB Land Sdn Bhd and another 800m stretch will be completed by Geo Valley Sdn Bhd.
The main contractor of the project is Syarikat Yuta Maju Sdn Bhd. The project, which began on Jan 14, 2016, is expected to be completed by 2020.