In this third and final part on how the public can participate in EIA reviews, we discuss the need and ways to get the public more involved in development planning. It must start long before the EIA process. Also read Part 1 and Part 2.

WHEN MARINE conservationist Alvin Chelliah chatted with experts for the Tioman airport EIA report, their replies were calm, technical, and dotted with data. For the local villagers, however, emotions ran high, for the stakes were higher.

“They were stunned and shocked to hear exactly what was happening,” recalled Chelliah of his at Kampung Paya and Kampung Genting. These villages sat on the shore by the proposed airport. Before Chelliah showed them the site map from the EIA report, the villagers did not know where the airport runway would be.

He and his team had been encouraging locals to share their views. But many of the details in the report – construction physics, soil dynamics, hydraulics – were gibberish to the untrained.

In this second part on how the public can participate in EIA reviews, we lay out suggestions by civil society and government efforts to improve the process. Part 2 of 3. Read Part 1 and Part 3.

IN 2023, marine conservationist Alvin Chelliah had a challenge the size of an encyclopaedia. Splayed across his computer screen was the environmental impact assessment report (EIA) of the Tioman airport project.

The main report was over 1,000 pages thick. Chapter 6, which described the environment on the project site alone, had 200 graphs and 125 tables. The appendix was twice the size of the main report.

Chelliah, the Chief Programme Officer at Reef Check Malaysia, was looking for gaps in the report. The federal Department of Environment (DOE) had put up the report for public review in June 2023. Chelliah had 30 days whereby the report would stay online, and another 15 days to submit comments.

He and his team had been encouraging locals to share their views. But many of the details in the report – construction physics, soil dynamics, hydraulics – were gibberish to the untrained.