The Penang Forum steering committee released the following ‘executive summary’ to the media during its meeting with the chief minister of Penang
The Penang Forum steering committee released the following ‘executive summary’ to the media during its meeting with the chief minister of Penang:
To address public concerns over hill degradation in Penang, the Penang Forum took the initiative in September 2015 to co-organise a public forum on hill development with the MBPP and relevant Penang state authorities.
But the council and the state decided not to participate in the effort and missed the opportunity to engage with the public.
In organising the public forum, the Penang Forum is non-partisan and has not been influenced by any other body or organisation.
The Penang Forum has not been misinformed. Its information and data came from two sources:
- answers provided by the State Exco to the State Assembly sitting in November 2015 on the number of legal projects and illegal clearings on sensitive hill land between 2008 and 2015; and
- photographs provided by members of public, resident associations, Google Earth satellite imagery and drone shots. The scarring on Bukit Relau has grown into an unmitigated disaster. Despite a stop work order and a fine against those responsible, major earthworks, including the building of road infrastructure, have taken place.
The Penang Forum calls on the Penang state government to comply with its own stated policies of prohibiting development on hill land above 76m (250 feet) and/or with a gradient greater than 25 degrees.
Special projects should be limited only to those of public interest.
We recommend that the authorities implement a holistic planning and monitoring system that takes account of cumulative impacts for the whole hill area under development.
We call for violators to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, including jail sentences and to be blacklisted for future projects.
We call upon the authorities to require all offenders to restore the damaged hills to their original condition.
Penang Forum steering committee 11 January 2016
Related:
Penang Forum | Towards local democracy and sustainable ...
Related posts:
Dec 13, 2015 ... Dr Kam was delivering a talk titled, 'What is happening to our hills' at the Save The Hills of Penang public forum at Dewan Sri Pinang here ...
|
No comments:
Post a Comment