A protest against a Petronas project was launched in Pengerang, a fishing town located in Johor State in the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia, on Sunday.
Thousands of people arrived at in the town to participate in a protest against Petronas’s proposed 60 billion ringgit (603 billion baht) Refinery and Petrochemicals Development (RAPID) project.
RAPID is set to occupy over 6,424-acres (2,600 hectares) of 22,500 acres set aside for the massive 170 billion ringgit Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC), aimed at making Malaysia a major petroleum hub in the region.
The protestors from across the country claim that the project will encourage land grabbing, destroy the local way of life, and damage the environment.
More than 3,000 locals have already been forced from their villages to make way for the project, the group said.
The organisers estimated the number of protestors at around 7,000 by noon.
Pakatan Rakyat, Malaysia’s main opposition party, has pledged to scrap the project if it is elected to power after the next general election that may be held in 2013.