We just want our Hills Preserved!

The Penang public just wants its hills preserved, guarded and cared for; we look to our state government to ensure that self-serving, profit-driven entrepreneurs take their ill-conceived plans elsewhere. Our future and the future of our children cannot be left in the hands of developers.
..........Penang Forum Steering Committee.....................
..............................27 August 2011........................................



The hill above which does not warrant any consideration as a steep slope now looks like this!



Ivory Towers continue to grow out of a steep slope. Where is the environmental impact study? Where is the regard for public safety? Who approved this development in the Batu Ferringhi district?

NST article 29-8-2011 with picture
GEORGE TOWN: A DAP state representative has taken the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) to task for approving hill slope development projects based on what he claims are flawed and outdated evaluation methods.
Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu, known as an environmentalist here, said the approach had exposed thousands of residents on the island to potential landslide risks.
He had expressed his concern on account of the mushrooming of upscale development projects, with frequent cases of minor landslides, especially in the Tanjung Bungah and Batu Feringghi areas.
Teh said that the MPPP had failed to keep up with times in adopting more reliable landslide identification methods.
Speaking to reporters at a hill slope development in Solok Tan Jit Seng in Tanjung Bungah yesterday, he criticised the MPPP for giving the developers a free hand to exploit hill slopes.
In calling for an immediate halt for future hill-cutting to prevent further environmental degradation, Teh also hit out at unscrupulous developers who were exempted from submitting Environmental Impact Assessment reports upon sub-dividing their hill slope projects into smaller plots.
Teh showed the press three sets of research papers submitted by local and international institutions, which suggested MPPP needed a more comprehensive approach to prevent landslides at hill slope developments.
"The local council has failed to use more advanced tools to identify the looming landslide threat posed to residents.
"There are so many loopholes in the MPPP hill slope evaluation methods, causing developers to cut the hills indiscriminately."
Among the methods outlined in the papers were the application of geographical information system, a form of global positioning system as well as in-depth landslide risk analysis to identify high, moderate or low landslide areas.
He added the MPPP's approach of relying on geo-technical reports submitted by developers was no longer relevant.

MPPP rapped for failing to keep watch on hillside development

MPPP rapped for failing to keep watch on hillside development
By CHRISTINA CHIN
sgchris@thestar.com.my

GEORGE TOWN: An assemblyman here has taken the Penang Municipal Council to task for allegedly failing to monitor hillslope development in the state.
DAP’s Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu said the council and developers must bear full responsibility if a landslide occurs.
“Although it was the previous state government that approved all the hillslope projects here, the state Town and Country Planning Department must be aware of danger-prone areas and the council must monitor the work that goes on there.
“Otherwise, if anything happens, they, together with the developer, must be accountable,” he told a press conference yesterday.
Teh claimed that when queried the relevant authorities recently, they couldn’t even identify the landslide-prone areas, much less report on the projects there.
“When I asked an officer how such areas were identified, he appeared dumbfounded but later said it was based on sight (whether the development and hillslope area looked dangerous).”
He said there must be a proper plan to identify high-risk areas and standard operating procedures (SOP) must be in place to monitor hillslope projects before it was too late.
Teh urged the council to refer to the recent environmental research utilising the geographic information system (GIS), experts and non-governmental organisations if it did not have the relevant knowledge.
“Clearly, the council has no expertise to monitor hillslope development. They should establish a geo-technical committee instead of simply relying on the Institute of Civil Engineering (Ikram).
“Whenever the council needed a geo-technical report, they will refer to Ikram, and when there is a dispute, the council will ask the developer to get a second opinion from a private consultant who would usually not even bother to visit the site and just refer to the Ikram report,” he said.
Teh denied he was hitting out at state Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow and state Health, Welfare, Environment and Caring Society Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh over the matter.
In an immediate response, Chow said the council could not be setting up numerous specialist committees when it was more efficient to refer technical issues to other expert agencies.
“The council is like a clinic. When a patient comes in with a complicated health problem, he needs to be referred to a specialist because we do not have the expertise to treat him.”