I
still say no to Rapid in Pengerang
By
Chua Jui Meng 
THE non-sustainable Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical
Integrated Development (Rapid) project cannot be located in its present site in
Pengerang.
That
is still my personal stand.
When
I announced at the Sept 30, 2012, Himpunan
Hijau (Green Rally) that Rapid would be scrapped if PR forms the next federal
government, it was based on a PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) political bureau
meeting decision which I fully supported.
Now
that PR leaders have decided to review that stand and state that they are not
against development and Rapid, I now have to make clear my personal position on
this issue.
I have also stated before that I
am not against sustainable development but Rapid cannot be located in its
present site in Pengerang because it affects 17 villages and thousands of
residents, as well as their health and wellbeing.
I
stand by the people of Pengerang.
The
negative impact on the environment and the ecology of Pengerang must also be considered.
Rapid
is also being used as an excuse by the Johor government led by Mentri Besar
Ghani Othman to grab peoples’ land cheaply by invoking the Land Acquisition Act
1960.
As
far as I am concerned, I will oppose any attempt to locate any unsustainable
and polluting industry in Johor that affects too many Johoreans negatively.
Such
public health hazard industries must only be located in uninhabited areas.
There
are still many such areas in the peninsula and East Malaysia where Rapid can be
sited without affecting the people.
