00:00The Court of Appeal has ruled that Penang State Planning Authorities acted beyond their powers
00:06in approving the Penang South Reclamation Project.
00:10A three-member bench said State Planning Authorities can only approve projects within areas under their jurisdiction
00:17and had no power to grant planning permission for the reclamation.
00:22The Court, however, dismissed an appeal by seven fishermen and two environmental groups
00:28because they filed their judicial review application after the legal deadline.
00:33Justice Wong Kian Kiong, in delivering the Court's judgment,
00:37said the proposed reclamation site lies within Malaysia's Territorial Sea,
00:42which falls under federal jurisdiction under the Territorial Sea Act 2012.
00:48He said sovereignty over the Territorial Sea, including its seabed and subsoil,
00:53is vested in the Yangtipetuan Agong until the reclamation is completed.
00:58The project was originally planned as a 1,821-hectare reclamation
01:04involving three artificial islands before it was scaled down in 2023
01:09to a single 930-hectare island known as Silicon Island.
01:15The Court made no order as to costs because the appeal raised matters of public importance.
01:22Sahabat Alam Malaysia said it was disappointed that the appeal was dismissed on a technicality
01:28and would study the judgment before deciding its next step.
01:32Pan-Yu-Drew FMT.
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