Penang Watch

Jelutong's garbage mountain building up

Satelite picture show the garbage is pushing into the sea!

Monday September 22, 2008(Star)
Green lung idea for landfill
By WINNIE YEOH

THERE is a proposal for Jelutong to have a 20ha people’s park complete with an amphitheatre, sports courts, jogging tracks and other leisure facilities in the future.

Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi, who is mooting the proposal, said the current landfill site along the coastline near the Jelutong Expressway promenade could be turned into the park.

Ooi said the landfill, which is currently handled by the Penang Municipal Council, has exceeded its capacity.
The landfill site, which is overfilled for 30 years, has exceeded its capacity.

“Jelutong has been the island’s ‘excretion point’ for the past 30 years and something has to be done to modernise this place.

“The landfill site is a wind trap area and it is an ideal place to hold international-level kite flying competitions,” he said.

He said under the Penang state structural plan, development of any type of building was not allowed on the land.

“A private sector company has approached the state government to allow them to use between 8ha and 12ha of the landfill site as a dumpsite.
"The landfill site is an ideal place to hold international-level kite flying competitions", says Ooi.

“The people are not happy with the landfill.

“I will show the state government what can be done to transform the area into a green lung to create a sustainable living environment for Penangites,” he said, adding that property prices will depreciate if the landfill was allowed to continue.

He said he went to Seoul, South Korea, recently to a district named Mapo where there was an urban park transformed from a landfill site.
Ooi suggested that the Jelutong landfill, seen here circled in red, be turned into a park for Penangites.

“Their park was developed from a dumpsite three years ago and they divided it into three parts.

“The first part is a park for rest and recreational activities, the second part is used to generate heat and channel it to nearby apartments while the third is used as a golf course.

“It has been successful there as the people love the park and I’m sure we can achieve similar things here,” he said.

Ooi, who has approached several developers and other companies to develop and maintain the area, said that the feedback he received from them had been good.