Pengerang NGO seeks court order to hold referendums

MalaysiaKini 4:04PM Dec 11, 2012

Local environmental movement Pengerang NGO Coalition will seek a court order to hold referendums on two issues affecting the people in the sub-district of Pengerang in Johor.

The two issues are the opposition of the local residents to the Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project and the relocation of the Chinese cemeteries there.

Pengerang NGO Coalition treasurer Chua Peng Sian (above) said their applications will be based on a 2011 High Court ruling that allows villagers to hold a referendum on the selection of a name for their village.

According to the June 29, 2011 decision, the High Court ordered the Johor government to facilitate a referendum for residents of Kampung Dato Haji Abdul Ghani Othman in Pengerang, where some of them wanted its name reverted back to its original, Kampung Baru Teluk Ramunia.

The referendum, which is yet to be carried out, is to allow the residents to vote whether to retain the current name of their village or to revert back to its original name.

Legal help to be sought from PAS

As such, Chua said, this legal precedent could be applied in the case of the residents of Pengerang who are opposing the Rapid project as well as the relocation of their cemeteries.

“We will seek legal assistance from PAS to file the applications in the High Court to enable the residents to determine their future (through the referendums),” Chua added at a press conference at Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) this morning.

Four Pengerang residents have earlier filed a suit against the Johor government to prevent the relocation of Chinese graveyards to make way for massive Rapid project.
KLSCAH chief executive officer Tang Ah Chai, who was also present, pledged his support for the legal action by the NGO.

Tang also suggested that similar referendums should be applied in any major development project that people in the locality objected to.

For example, he said, the Kuantan residents should have been consulted before the controversial Lynas rare earths refinery plant was erected in their locality.
Meanwhile, Chua criticised the MCA representatives in Pengerang for not taking action to protect the Chinese cemeteries.

“I have to question the MCA, which claims to represent the six million Malaysian Chinese: what have you done? Did you speak up for us?”

He urged MCA not to be cowardly, but to stand up for the rights of the Pengerang residents.