GEORGE TOWN: With Penang paralysed following massive floodings, the state government has been told to stop being in denial.
DAP’s Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu and non-governmental organisations - Sahabat Alam Malaysia and the Consumers’ Association of Penang - expressed anguish over what they described as the mega floods after the Sept 15 incident.
They also demanded the state government to stop blaming the heavy rainfall and poor drainage system as the cause of the floods.
Teh, SAM and CAP were adamant that uncontrolled developments, including at hillslopes, was the major contributing factor to the floods, which has since displaced more than 2,000 people statewide.
Teh said it was high time the state government looked into its own weaknesses in governing the state which had caused the floods.
“This is what happens when the administration simply refuses to listen to the people and act as it wishes. See now. All of Penang is under floodwater.
“The NGOs, the residents and I had continuously and vehemently objected to the many hillslope developments but we had been brushed aside as ‘rebels’.
“It is time for the people to really open up their eyes and decide if this is the government they want to continue ruling the state,” he told the New Straits Times.
Teh also said the absence of check and balance had resulted in the Penang government to do as they so wishes.
“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 this time around.
“The Penang government must own up and take responsibility for what happened,” he said.
Meanwhile, SAM and CAP president S.M. Mohamed Idris said “every single Penangites is living through the mega floods”.
He added that while it was true that non-stop rain and high wind had sent Penang into a war zone, rampant hillslope developments and clearing of the greens in the urban areas were major contributing factors which had further aggravated the situation.
“Don’t pretend that all these did not contribute the mega floods.
“Seriously, the Penang government can no longer be in a state of denial and must fully recognised the state of the crisis,” he said.
Idris pointed that the state must now “take the bull by its horns” to identify the cause of the floods and tackle the root causes, and not try to play catch up each time it floods.
For a start, Idris said the state government has to set aside more fund to repair all the hillslopes statewide.
“A mere RM10 million allocation announced in the state’s 2018 budget is not sufficient at all.
“Secondly, the stage must also set up a special unit to monitor all the hillslope developments,” he said.
More importantly, Idris said the state must also monitor all the private developers ‘ projects.
He noted that the state must examine the inadequacy and loopholes in the laws and guidelines with regards to environmentally-sensitive developments in the state.
“All hillslopes developments, even those way below 76 metres should be stopped immediately.
“A comprehensive review of the state’s development is what is required at this very instant,” he added.
Idris also said the Federal government must allocate emergency funds for the mega floods to tackle the issue once and for all.