Penang local government, town and country planning committee chairman Jason H’ng said the environment department rejected the EIA report on March 2 and instructed developer PLB Engineering Sdn Bhd to resolve outstanding technical issues.

He said the company submitted an EoT application to assess whether it can comply with the imposed conditions.

H’ng said the state executive council is awaiting a working paper on the application from PLB Engineering to PDC, which is implementing the project.

“PDC will then table a working paper on the application to the state exco at the next meeting on May 20,” he told reporters at the state legislative assembly complex today.

“At this stage, no decision has been made on whether to proceed with or terminate the project. All factors will be considered at the exco meeting.”

He also said he understood that PLB Engineering would present additional proposals to PDC, including the possibility of developing a public recreational park at the site.

He was responding to questions on whether the state government would review the project’s viability after its EIA application was rejected for the fifth time.

On April 30, the Protect Karpal Singh Drive residents’ group called on the state government to abandon the rehabilitation and reclamation plan after repeated failures to secure environmental approval.

Its chairman, Dr K Ganesh, urged the state to stop “hiding behind process”, scrap the reclamation plan, and proceed with the long-promised public park.

The group also called for no further extensions, the termination of PLB Engineering’s involvement, the release of all environment department rejection letters, and the removal of the reclamation plan from future proposals.