‘DISASTROUS’ YEAR FOR STATE
From the worst flood in its history to a detained exco rep, the state has seen it all
AS the curtain falls on 2017, it brings with it a “disaster-filled” year for Penang, thrusting the state into the limelight on numerous occasions.
From a fatal landslide to a bus mishap and a devastating flood, the worst in Penang’s history, the state had seen it all in a span of two weeks, between Oct 21 and Nov 5.
On Oct 21, Malaysians woke up to the shocking news of a landslide that struck a construction site in Lengkok Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah, which claimed the lives of 10 foreign workers and a Malaysian site supervisor.
It took rescuers from various enforcement agencies three days to recover all the bodies. During that time, the construction site was the centre of attention, where thousands of people converged in search of answers.
It was hard to understand what had gone wrong as the incident occurred on a sunny Saturday morning, which was supposed to be another normal workday for workers at the site.
Critics blamed hillslope development for the incident, but the Penang government was quick to label it a “construction site accident”, although a Commission of Inquiry, set up to investigate the tragedy, had yet to commence proceedings.
Later, photos emerged showing that the project involved slopes with a gradient of about 20 degrees.
What was even more baffling was the fact that the project went ahead despite not getting approval from the Department of Environment.
With Malaysians reeling from the landslide, news of a bus mishap on Oct 24, which killed eight people and injured 44 others, sent more shock waves across the nation.
In the 5.50am incident near the Juru toll plaza at Km147 of the North-South Expressway (northbound), a bus — ferrying 39 Indonesians and one Nepali — to a Sony factory in Prai, stopped on the left lane of the highway after experiencing engine problems.
A second bus, ferrying 17 local women from Parit Buntar to a Plexus factory in Bayan Lepas, failed to stop on time and slammed into the first bus. The impact of the crash caused it to push the stalled bus to the right side of the highway.
Then, there was the massive flood on Nov 5, which was triggered by a 17-hour downpour.
It paralysed 80 per cent of George Town and Seberang Prai, resulting in landslides, uprooted trees and heavy traffic, as roads were impassable.
It took two weeks for the state to return to normal and possibly months for those affected to rebuild their lives.
In yet another tragedy, four family members of MCA Tanjong Youth chief Lim Swee Bok died in a fire that gutted their doublestorey house in Pintasan Cecil 5, Pengkalan Weld, here on Nov 15.
Those killed were his mother, Lau Sai Poh, 62, his wife, Chen Yen, 35, and their two children, Lim Yin Chun, 9, and Jia Yinn, 8.
Neighbours watched helplessly as the fire destroyed the house in the 6am incident.
Lim was working the night shift at a factory when the incident occurred.
Penang’s political scene was also abuzz this year when, in August, state Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh was arrested by the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC) in connection with investigations into an illegal carbon filter factory in Sungai Lembu, Bukit Mertajam.
The factory’s 70-year-old manager and his 37-year-old son were also detained.
Phee, 65, was investigated for abusing his power.
The senior DAP lawmaker is the second lawmaker in the state to be arrested in a little more than a year.
On June 29 last year, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was arrested by MACC over a corruption probe involving the purchase of his Jalan Pinhorn bungalow.
He has since been charged with two counts of corruption.
His case has been fixed for case management on Jan 10 before it goes on trial.