Only 17 of 30 applications for hill development in Penang approved since 2008

KUALA LUMPUR: Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said the ministry received 30 applications for hill development in Penang from 2008 to 2017 and of the number, only 17 projects were approved while 11 others did not receive the support of PLANMalaysia.
"The ministry, via PLANMalaysia is directly involved in making proposals to the State Planning Committee (SPC) for consideration of approval of applications," he said in reply to a question from Datuk Liang Teck Meng (PKR-Simpang Renggam) in the Dewan Rakyat today .
Under PLANMalaysia, which provides development guidelines on hills and highlands, the state governments were allowed to amend the guidelines based on the physical and geographical aspects.
Noh said his ministry was only involved in approving the applications after 2007 as before that year, it was under the jurisdiction of the local authorities.
Responding to a supplementary question on peaceful protests against housing projects near hills, he said the residents were allowed to do so as provided under the Town and Country Planning Act 1972. — Bernama