Court rules no lawful planning permission for PSR Project; permits ‘Illegal Island’ to proceed on technicality

Lai Cheng June 30, 2026 0 Comments

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is deeply disappointed by today’s decision of the Court of Appeal to dismiss the appeal brought by the fishermen and environmental groups, SAM and Jaringan Ekologi dan Iklim (JEDI) against the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, despite the Court stating that the planning permission granted was without lawful authority.

The Court of Appeal decided today that the Director of Penang State Planning Department (PlanMalaysia) and/or the Penang State Planning Committee had no power to grant the planning permission for the reclamation. The logical consequence of this would be that the planning permission for the PSR Project would be rendered invalid, and therefore the Penang State Government is currently constructing an island without valid planning approvals.

Despite acknowledging that the planning authorities had no power to grant planning permission, the Court ultimately dismissed the appeal on procedural grounds, effectively sidestepping these substantive concerns.

SAM and the other appellants will be discussing whether to proceed with filing an application for leave to appeal.

 

 

Mageswari Sangaralingam
Hon. Secretary
Sahabat Alam Malaysia

Press Statement, 30 June 2026

 

Details of the Appeal here:
https://consumer.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/zakaria-v-pengarah-jpbd-ts-limitation.pdf