Analysis of the social impact assessment under the town and country planning act and proposals for reform

Abstract

Various issues regarding the implementation of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and its legal framework in Malaysia have resulted in confusion amongst governmental agencies, project proponents and the public. Even though Malaysia has introduced a basic legal framework on SIA, ineffective management of the impact of projects has weakened the public's confidence in the effectiveness of SIA implementation and thus has hindered the country's aim towards achieving sustainable development goals. Therefore, alternatives must be formulated to ensure that these issues which lead to the confusion are managed and resolved constructively. It is among this research's objectives to propose recommendations that could enhance the SIA framework in Malaysia. To achieve this objective, a content analysis of the legal framework was carried out by examining the provisions under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172), the Manual for Social Impact Assessment for Project Development (Second Edition), 2018 (Manual) and decided cases. Act 172 lacks comprehensive legal provisions to control and administer the SIA implementation by the Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia). Many issues and gaps related to the preparation process, the evaluator's expertise, the report's evaluation and post-monitoring under the implementation of SIA are identified based on a questionnaire survey among the respondents from PLANMalaysia Federal as well as PLANMalaysia State. It is further found through focused group discussions (FGD) that the existing Manual is insufficient in explaining and providing details on the preparation, submission, evaluation, monitoring, and auditing processes of the SIA. Consequently, these issues have affected the efficiency of the SIA implementation process for development projects. Referring to the best practices of Australia and India, amongst others, recommendations as to the requirement of SIA, the approval process as well as details of the SIA preparation process are proposed at the end of this research to improve the current regulatory framework. It is believed that the recommendations presented in this research could strengthen and improve the SIA implementation framework in Malaysia as well as significantly contribute to the government, industry, academia and society.