BAYAN LEPAS: The Penang government has been told to refer all projects to be built by the hillsides or slopes to the Department of Environment (DoE) before approving these developments.
Balik Pulau MP Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said that this is to ensure that there will be no repeat of tragedies such as the recent Tanjung Bungah landslide, which claimed 11 lives.
"They must look into it (again) if there were projects (that have been) given permission by the DoE. For this project (Tanjung Bungah), they (the Penang government) still gave permission even though DOE did not approve it.
"In our time, we never approved of projects higher than 75 metres and situated by steep slopes that are moew than 25 degrees. We also did not allow any illegal logging as these will result in landslides," he said in a press conference Saturday.
Several non-governmental organisations and environmental groups have lambasted the state government for ignoring the peoples’ pleas to stop plundering the island of its natural resources.
The state government has since set up a commission of inquiry to look into the landslide incident.