KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 25): Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Himpunan Hijau is organising a mass demonstration at Dataran Sungai Rengit in Pengerang, Johor this Sunday to highlight the plight of the people in affected areas in Pengerang as a result of a planned multi-billion dollar petrochemical refinery complexes.

The group, which calls themselves Himpunan Hijau Pengerang Lestari, claimed that the petrochemical refinery complexes will impact the livelihood of the people there as well as damaging to the pristine environment in Pengerang.

Petrochemical refinery complexes project planned for Pengerang include national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd's (Petronas) RM60 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Industrial Development (RAPID) project and Dialog Group Bhd's RM5 billion oil terminal,

At lobby of the Parliament, movement president Anis Afida Mohd Azli told a press conference: "Our main objective is to attract the attention of Malaysians to know the plights of the people in Pengerang, who are directly affected by the development of the petrochemical refinery complexes.

"Here, we have outlined three important issues that we are fighting for, with the most important being the issue of land grabbing by the government," she added.

She claimed that the people in the affected villages were offered very low valuation for their lands to make way for the development.

The project will take up almost half of Mukim Pengerang with the area of 22,500 acres, affecting the livelihood of about 700 people from 10 villages, she said. Himpunan Hijau alleged that the people in Pengerang was only offered RM2.80 per sq ft for their lands.

Himpunan Hijau National steering committee chairman Wong Tack said the government's way of approving mega projects without consulting the affected people's opinion, is a "clear example of blatant abuse of power".

He said the injustices to people and environmental damage will continue to go on because those in power are not willing to listen to the people's grievances.

"This regime is not willing to come forward, to listen to the people and make correction because they are more interested in their own survival. So, I call for the whole Malaysia, all responsible citizens to come forward at this juncture and exercise your responsibility to run this nation, because nobody cares anymore.

"So, the rakyat must take the responsibility so that the whole nation can rise up together in one platform under Himpunan Hijau to tell the regime that we can't stand anymore this kind of destruction," said Wong.

Wong said the area in Pengerang where the petrochemical complexes will be built is home to lobsters and dugongs, which will be threatened by the construction of the oil and gas processing facilities.

In a separate press conference in the Parliament lobby to refute claims by Himpunan Hijau, Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Osman Said said the claims are politically-motivated because the issues that they brought up are baseless.

She said the RM2.80 psf compensation is for those lands which are located quite far from the sea shore, which is where the development will take place to take advantage of the busy shipping lane connecting the Malacca Strait to markets in Asia Pacific.

The highest offer made to some of the land owners were RM8.00 psf, said Azalina.

The outspoken representative also dismissed the allegation that the people in Pengerang are mostly against the development.

She said under Phase 1, of which about 179 families will be relocated to a new settlement area in March next year, 70 families accepted the compensation package without any objection, while another 109 accepted with objections. No families have officially opposed to the compensation package, said Azalina.

"For me, these are baseless accusations which are taken advantage by the opposition parties to shore up support in Johor, since the general election is near. The Barisan Nasional government has always been responsible to the people.

"If this opposition parties wanted to raise the issue of environmental damage, I want to ask them, where were they when the fishermen in Pengerang were affected by the leaked oil from the tankers several years ago? Why only raise the issue of environmental damage now, when the general election is just around the corner?" she said.

She also dismissed the allegation that the water around Pengerang is home to endangered species such as dugong. This is because the water has been a busy shipping lane for decades, with tanker vessels berthed in the area for months to take advantage of the low parking fee charged by the Malaysian authority compared with Singapore's.

She said if there were dugongs in that area, there would have been hundreds of dead dugongs found on the shores of Pengerang, as they would have been hit by the large tanker vessels plying the area.

"Oil leakages from tanker vessels are more dangerous to the dugongs and lobsters than the petrochemical complexes. Where were Himpunan Hijau when I urged the government in Parliament several years ago to raise the parking fee of tanker vessels in south Johor to lower the instances of leaked oil there?" said Azalina.

Earlier protests in Pengerang were said to have affected the decision by Taiwan's Kuokuang Petrochemical Technological Co Ltd, which reportedly had planned to invest as much as US$12 billion (RM36.86 billion) in Pengerang to develop a petroleum refinery complex.

Originally, the company's planned to start similar project in Taiwan but had to scrap it after meeting resistance from Taiwanese after an environment assessment team raised concerns that the complex would consume too much water and cause high level of pollutions.

To this issue, Azalina said although the same company is seeking to invest in Pengerang, the situation in Taiwan should not be used to compare with the project in Pengerang. But she did not elaborate.