20 October 2018

Press Statement by MCA Penang State Liaison Committee Chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng

How many landslides does it take to wake Penang govt up?

I am devastated by the landslide had hit a construction site in Paya Terubong killing three and causing another 10 to still be missing, knowing that the Penang state government could have learn something from past tragedies but did not.

How many times more of landslides need to happen and lives taken before the Penang government wakes up to the many problems of over-developing mountainsides, and takes a more cautious approach towards it.   

The state government must start taking this issue more seriously, and investigate the root cause of this time’s landslide as quickly as possible. Is it truly an accident, or is it due to uncontrolled developments?  The Penang government has always handled development in a most authoritarian way, disregarding the voices of its people and various NGOs. This outright arrogance to tune out the public’s opinion has now resulted in multiple tragedies. Wake up, and wake up now to witness what you have wrought upon our people.

Please begin to understand that you need to do a much better job in ensuring  erosion mitigation works is done. Double check if your contractors are following the SOPs and have precautionary measures in place to safeguard the public as well as the workers.  The previous tragedy in Tanjung Bungah ought to have already been a painful lesson and precursor to start addressing the perpetual issue of uncontrolled development of slopes.

Though natural disasters can’t be mitigated completely, it is still your duty as government to take provisions reducing the probability to its lowest by installing a culture of accountability and supervising responsibility.  

Datuk Tan Teik Cheng

MCA Penang State Liaison Committee Chairman

-MCA Online-