KUALA LUMPUR: The Penang government has been urged to stop all hillside development immediately in light of the latest fatal landslide at Bukit Kukus.
The Organisation for the Preservation of National Heritage (Peka) said it was clear that rampant development of Penang’s hills and slopes is a foolhardy venture that has and will continue to result in fatal incidents.
Its president Datuk Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil said Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow should realise this even though the actual reasons behind the latest landslide had yet to be ascertained.
“Peka Malaysia, along with many other concerned non-governmental organisations, has highlighted this issue repeatedly to the authorities, but have been greeted with muted silence and more recently, open scorn and ridicule.
“The current tally of fatalities of recent landslides, including the latest one in Penang, stands at over 10 and is will only climb as search and rescue operations continue.
“It is high time that Malaysians, especially Penangites, ask themselves how many more human lives must be sacrificed at the altar of greed before we finally do something about it,” she said in a statement.
She said Chow should take the latest incident as an opportunity to show “that they are capable of seeing the error of their ways and that they can listen and accept advice, especially when they disagree with it.”
“NGOs are not the enemy of the government, we are merely concerned citizens who want the best for all Malaysians and our beloved country.
“All we ask is that you listen and open your hearts to us, especially in the aftermath of such tragedies,” she said.
It was reported netizens too have taken the state government to task following Friday’s killer landslide at the Bukit Kukus paired road project site.
They have also demanded that the state government take full responsibility over the incident.
The bodycount of the landslide stands at four so far while the Fire and Rescue Department has revised to five, the number of victims still missing.
The latest two are said to be from Bangladesh. The earlier three victims are two Bangladesh nationals and an Indonesian national.