Yesterday, about 1,000 opposition supporters who hides under the name of a few NGOs proxy PR joined Himpunan Hijau Pengerang to show their objection on the development of Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) in Pengerang, Johor.
A few opposition leaders were also seen at the rally, they include PAS’s Vice President Salahuddin Ayub, PAS’s Committee Member Mazlan Aliman, Johor’s DAP Chairman Dr Boo Cheng Hau, Comittee Member of Pemandu Bersih 2.0 Wong Chin Huat and Hishammuddin Rais.
Looking at the names, we could see that their objection runs on a political motive. Most of the participants were found to be Chinese DAP which came from around the country, some were PKR Chinese and PAS supporters and only a few locals.
And as usual, Unit Amal PAS became their front line soldiers for security without understanding that they are actually fighting for the DAP Chinese masters.
Say if the RAPID project were to be transferred to Penang which is owned by DAP, do believe that such protest would never happen because the project simply brings a lot of benefit to locals and it could provide huge impact to the development of the state and this country.
But since this RAPID project is being developed in Johor which is UMNO and BN’s stronghold, and PR has been dreaming to get Johor, so this project is then said that it would cause negative impact towards the nature and its surroundings.
Besides that, PAS’s leader, Salahuddin Ayub said,”PR clearly do not reject any development projects”. He even said that PR would accept this projects (RAPID) if it is developed in Kerteh and Paka, Terengganu.
The statement clearly clashes with what the whole Perhimpunan Hijau Pengerang thinks where they feel that the project would endanger the surrounding area, the life of its locals and that it would jeopardize the income of fishermen.
The fact is, the matter of acquisition of land has never become any issue for locals because they would get compensation and at the same time they would get 0.8 hectares of land replacement.
Even locals who are involved were given land for their houses at 6,000 square feet and that they were given subsidy for new houses between RM85,000 until RM140,000 per unit. Their new residency is even only 15 kilometer away from their original place.
They actually have a different story behind this objection, which was almost as same as Lynas which occurred due to rumor spread by Chinese from DAP and PKR after getting ‘bonuses’ from rare earth companies from China, even i Pengerang, foreign entities play the same role as well.
The protest actually came from a few locals who became proxy of land owners from Singapore who reject the whole idea.
The name for most land and houses’ owners at Pengerang are Malays, but it is actually proxy to the real owners in Singapore. When the RAPID project begins, it would give huge impact towards Singaporeans as they would not get any land compensation. Instead, they would only receive cash compensation.
It is clear that negative stories regarding RAPID is just to cover the real truth. The very same project has been around for ages in Kerteh Terengganu, Gebeng Kuantan, Pahang and even Jurong in Singapura and it is still yet to be proven to be hazardous to locals.
The RAPID project would provide huge impact towards Johor’s economy and it would even benefit the country. With more than 50,000 job opportunities to be offered, it would be a huge benefit to its locals.
