Tanjung Bungah residents demand halt to Sore Thumb development

GEORGE TOWN: Tanjung Bungah residents staged a demonstration outside the state legislative assembly building today, demanding that the government immediately halt a developer's plans to alter the natural Sore Thumb promontory.

They accused the authorities of breaking longstanding promises by allowing public coastal land to be used for a private five-storey wellness centre.

The protest comes in the wake of the deadly landslide in Paya Terubong on Oct 25. Residents warned that extensive engineering works on natural terrain could invite disaster.

Tanjung Bungah Residents' Association (TBRA) chairman Zulfikar Aziz criticised the developer's plans to reduce the lush hill from 18m to six metres, remove mature vegetation and build a massive concrete seawall along the public shoreline.

"We want a public park, but not at the expense of the very natural environment it should protect," he said, criticising plans to build concrete jogging tracks over fragile coastal habitats.

"A coastal park should coexist with nature, not destroy it," he added.

Resident Oo Huei Ying warned that extending a hard retaining wall beyond the actual high-water mark could disturb seabed sand and trigger severe erosion along the Tanjung Bungah and Batu Ferringhi coastlines.

"This is not a public park; it is an engineered extension of a private commercial project," she said.

She questioned why residents had to continue negotiating with private interests while their own 78-page architect-designed master plan, submitted in February, had yet to be considered.

The promontory, which was formed following illegal dumping two decades ago, has since regenerated into a habitat for otters, white-faced dusky leaf monkeys and nesting sea eagles.

Residents also pointed out that Penang was already falling short of the mandatory open-space ratios set out in its draft Structure Plan 2040 (RSN 2040).

They said the loss of natural green space would therefore be difficult to justify.

Calling on Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow to honour his pledges to protect the promontory's natural character, the residents offered to raise funds through crowdfunding to develop the park themselves and prevent the area from being covered in concrete.

A timeline provided by the residents showed that planning permission for Lot 4658 had not been secured at a meeting on Feb 17, 2022, with then state executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari.

At the meeting, the developer was instructed to build a public park.

On March 28 that year, Chow chaired a meeting at which he stipulated that a two-acre seaside public park must be established before any commercial development could proceed.

Chow also directed that Sore Thumb be gazetted as a green lung. The area was officially gazetted as open space on Nov 27, 2023.

However, residents alleged that planning permission for Lot 4658 was granted in March 2025 without affected neighbours receiving individual notices or being given an opportunity to raise objections.

Alarmed by site-clearing works encroaching on the promontory and beach, residents wrote to Chow on Oct 24, 2025, demanding an immediate halt to the work.

During a follow-up meeting with the chief minister on Nov 6, 2025, community members called for the ecosystem to remain untouched.

They said they secured pledges to suspend tree-felling, consult residents on landscape plans and safeguard the coastline.

Following tripartite discussions in mid-January this year, residents submitted their 78-page architect-designed master plan on Feb 10.

Endorsed by civil society and environmental groups, the proposal calls on the state to preserve the wildlife habitat and natural terrain.

It proposes low-impact nature trails and scenic lookouts instead of extensive concrete infrastructure.