NGOs TELL STATE GOVT TO STOP BEING IN A STATE OF DENIAL

Rep, NGOs blame uncontrolled development, want hillslopes repaired

THE state government has been told to stop being in a state of denial following the worst floods to hit the island yesterday. DAP Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu and nongovernmental organisations — Sahabat Alam Malaysia and the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) — expressed anguish over what had been happening on the island of late.

They also demanded the state government stop blaming heavy rainfall and poor drainage as the cause of floods.

Teh, SAM and CAP blamed uncontrolled development, including those at hillslopes, as the major contributor to the floods, which displaced more than 2,000 people yesterday.

Teh said it was time the state government looked into its weaknesses in governing the state.

“This is what happens when the administration refuses to listen to the people, and acts as it wishes. See now... almost the whole of Penang is under water.”

Teh said NGOs and residents had continuously and vehemently objected to the many hillslope developments, but the state leadership responded by brushing them aside and labelling them as “rebels”.

“It is time for the people to open their eyes and decide if this is the government they want to continue ruling the state,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.

Teh said the absence of checks and balances had resulted in the state government doing as it wished.

“This is really a sad, sad day for Penang,” he said, adding that many areas in his constituency, which had never experienced floods, were inundated.

“The Penang government must take responsibility for what has happened,” he said.

SAM and CAP president S.M. Mohamed Idris said every Penangite was affected by the disaster.

He added that while it was true that non-stop rain and strong winds had caused floods, rampant hillslope developments and clearing of green lungs in urban areas were major factors that had aggravated the situation.

“Don’t pretend that all these did not contribute to the mega floods. The Penang government can no longer be in denial and must recognise the state of the crisis.”

Idris said the state must “take the bull by its horns” to identify the cause of the floods and tackle the problem, instead of playing catch-up each time it flooded.

For a start, he said the state government had to set aside more funds to repair hillslopes statewide.

“A mere RM10 million announced in the state’s 2018 budget is not sufficient. Secondly, a special unit to monitor hillslope developments must be set up.”

More importantly, Idris said, the state must monitor private developers’ projects because there were many inadequacies and loopholes in the laws and guidelines with regard to environmentally-sensitive developments.

He said the Federal Government must allocate emergency funds for mega floods to tackle the issue once and for all.