Probe RM1bil Karpal Singh Drive Deal, Residents Urge Public Accounts Committee: From Zero to 70-Acre Reclamation, 6 Year Extensions, 5 EIA Failures
The Karpal Singh Drive residents’ action group has called on the Penang’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to investigate how a RM1bn Jelutong landfill rehabilitation project gained a 70-acre coastal reclamation component not found in the winning 2016 proposal, while key approval conditions were repeatedly extended.
The Protect Karpal Singh Drive Action Committee (ProtectKarpal), operating under the Bandar Sri Pinang Pulau Pinang Residents’ Association (PBSP), filed a formal complaint with the PAC, in a memorandum submitted outside the Penang state assembly on 13 May 2026, seeking an urgent inquiry into the matter.
The following is the statement released by ProtectKarpal, with full details on the matter.
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GEORGE TOWN, 13 May 2026 – ProtectKarpal, operating under Persatuan Penduduk Bandar Sri Pinang Pulau Pinang (PBSP), today filed a formal complaint with the Penang Public Accounts Committee (PAC), seeking an urgent inquiry into the Jelutong landfill rehabilitation and coastal reclamation project under the 21 February 2020 Joint Development Agreement (JDA) between the Penang State Government, the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and PLB Engineering Berhad. The complaint is filed because public records show a sharp change in project scope: PLB’s 2016 revised tender proposal contained zero coastal reclamation; the 2020 JDA introduced “reclamation”; and the 2025 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) displayed a 70-acre reclamation component, while the EIA was not approved by the Department of Environment (DoE) five consecutive times. ProtectKarpal asks the constitutional oversight body to investigate a RM1 billion project that has accumulated at least seven extensions of time since 2020, failed five consecutive environmental impact assessments (EIA), and may be seeking an eighth extension at the state executive council meeting on 20 May 2026.
ProtectKarpal stresses that this is not an allegation of criminal wrongdoing. It is a call for public accounting before any further Extension of Time (EOT) is granted to a project involving public land, public coastline, a state statutory body and residents who live beside the Jelutong landfill.
“For residents, this is not an abstract contract. It is about whether a promised rehabilitation will finally make their neighbourhood safer, or whether they will be left with more delay, more uncertainty and a reclamation project they were never asked to approve,” said Dr. K Ganesh, Chairperson of ProtectKarpal and PBSP.
WHY THIS MATTERS NOW
The timing is urgent. The complaint follows five EIA non-approvals over approximately 684 days and comes ahead of an expected 20 May 2026 EXCO discussion on PLB’s further EOT request. ProtectKarpal asks that no further extension be treated as routine until PAC has reviewed the tender record, JDA scope changes, EOT approvals and public-risk implications.
WHAT THE PUBLIC RECORD SHOWS
The Joint Development Agreement (JDA), signed in February 2020, contained an 18-month precondition: PLB Engineering Berhad was obligated to obtain Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA), and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) approvals within 18 months – by around August 2021. That deadline was not met. What followed was a sequence of extensions that the community only discovered through the Bursa filings by the company.
THE EXTENSION TRAIL (sourced from PLB Engineering’s Bursa Malaysia filings and annual reports):
Feb 2020 JDA signed — 18-month precondition deadline set (EIA/TIA/SIA to be obtained by Aug 2021)
Oct 2020 EOT #1 — PLB requests up to 4 months
Oct 2021 EOT #2 — 12 months requested
Aug 2022 EOT #3 — extended to 5 Jun 2023
Feb 2023 EOT #4 — NRIC obligation expired; PLB re-applies
Jun 2024 EOT #5 — PDC extends to 30 Jun 2024
Dec 2024 EOT #6 — PDC extends to 31 Dec 2024
Apr 2025 EOT #7 — BPEN approves extension to 28 Feb 2026
May 2026 EOT #8 — PLB applies again. EXCO to decide 20 May 2026.
This is not one missed deadline. This is six years of repeated deadline extensions for what the JDA defined as basic preconditions – conditions that had to be met before the project could even begin. The DoE’s five EIA rejections are the visible tip of a much larger governance failure that the PAC complaint now places on the public record.
The reclamation nobody proposed – and nobody re-tendered
The PAC complaint also flags a fundamental procurement question. When PLB Engineering Berhad won the 2015 public tender, its own July 2016 revised proposal contained zero coastal sea reclamation. Yet the 2020 JDA introduced “reclamation”. By the February 2025 EIA, the figure had grown from zero to 70 acres. A May 2026 media report cited “about 30 hectares” – approximately 74 acres – suggesting the scope may have grown further still.
THE CORE QUESTION:
The tender that was won had zero reclamation. Nevertheless, the 2020 JDA that was signed gave the company a way to reclaim. The EIA that was rejected – five times – had 70 acres. At no stage was there a competitive re-tender. At no stage was the DUN informed. ProtectKarpal asks the PAC to determine: who authorised each expansion, under what authority, and whether public procurement law was followed.
What ProtectKarpal is asking PAC to do:
- Summon the Chief Minister, PDC Board, PLB Engineering Berhad, BPEN, and the DoE to testify on the JDA terms, scope changes, all extension approvals, and DoE rejections.
- Compel production of the full JDA, all PDC and EXCO minutes related to extensions, all EIA/TIA/SIA documents, and DoE rejection letters – documents the community has been requesting for months without response.
- Determine whether the introduction of coastal reclamation constitutes a material variation requiring competitive re-tender under Malaysian public procurement principles;
- Examine who authorised the introduction of coastal reclamation into the JDA when the winning tender proposal contained none;
- Examine the risks, liabilities, compensation claims, concessions, opportunity costs or termination consequences may affect PDC, the Penang State Government or the public;
- Recommend that the EXCO defer its 20 May 2026 decision on PLB’s latest extension request until the PAC has completed its initial inquiry.
“Six years. Eight extension requests. Five EIA rejections. And a project whose reclamation component grew from zero to 70 acres without a single public tender. We filed this complaint with the PAC because we have exhausted every other channel. The PAC has constitutional powers we do not – and the public deserves answers that only those powers can compel.” — Dr. K. Ganesh, Chairman, ProtectKarpal/ PBSP
A public-accountability issue, not an anti-development stand
ProtectKarpal supports safe and responsible rehabilitation of the Jelutong landfill. The committee’s objection is the unexplained scope change, weak public disclosure and repeated deadline extensions in a project that affects residents, fisherfolk, traffic, public health, coastal ecology especially Middle Bank, and the future of Karpal Singh Drive. A developer-funded project can still require public scrutiny when it uses public decision-making power, involves public assets, and changes public coastline.
CALL TO ACTION
ProtectKarpal calls on the Penang PAC to open an immediate inquiry, obtain the full JDA and all EOT documents, and publish its findings to the Dewan Undangan Negeri and the public. ProtectKarpal also calls on Penangites to contact their state assemblypersons and ask them to support a PAC inquiry and defer any further EOT decision until the documentary record is independently reviewed.
– Issued by: Protect Karpal Singh Drive Action Committee (ProtectKarpal) (under the auspices of Persatuan Penduduk Bandar Sri Pinang Pulau Pinang)
About ProtectKarpal
The Protect Karpal Singh Drive Action Committee (ProtectKarpal) is a resident-led civic body, operating under the auspices of Persatuan Penduduk Bandar Sri Pinang Pulau Pinang (PBSP), representing the communities of Bandar Sri Pinang and Jelutong, Penang. ProtectKarpal advocates for transparent governance, evidence-based environmental policy, and the protection of community health and ecological integrity in Penang.
PBSP’s official letter of complaint to PAC:
https://consumer.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Letter-PAC2605.pdf
PBSB’s memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister of Penang and the Penang State Assembly opposition leader:
https://consumer.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Memo-2605.pdf