BALIK PULAU: The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) has been slammed for failing to monitor hillslope developments under its jurisdiction, which are posing a threat to the environment and nearby residents.
The latest is the land clearing in Bukit Sungai Rusa here, which nearby residents claim caused their houses to be inundated in a thick layer of red earth and mud during the Nov 4 major floods, something which was never seen or heard before in the past.
Checks by the New Straits Times today at the site, a private property, showed a large tract of the hill had been cleared for an access road, supposedly leading to a farm. There was nothing to cover the barren patch.
Adjacent to the large tract was another land clearing into terraces, supposedly for residential units. Both areas measure 1.2 hectare in size.
However, works have stopped after the land owner was served with a summons by the MBPP back in 2012 for not submitting proper plans. The land owner is in the midst of rehabilitating the plot of land by re-planting greens.
Just below both clearing sites are seven units of houses and chalets.
Teluk Bahang assemblyman Datuk Shah Headan Ayoob Hussain Shah, who led a group of newsmen to the site, said he had been getting many complaints from nearby residents on the nuisance posed by the clearing works on the hill.
"The houses below, which never experienced any flooding before, were flooded on Nov 4. Even the Sungai Rusa riverbank was damaged.
"We want to ask what the council is doing about it. Why didn't their officers go to the ground to check if all hillslope developments abide by the guidelines set. It is not right for the MBPP to just plead ignorance.
"If left unattended, the hillslope developments will become rampant. With 60 per cent of my constituency made up of hilly terrains, this is a major cause for concern," he said.
Shah Headan asked if the MBPP had ever called for a meeting with the owners of all hillslope properties.
"Although the land belongs to them, they should be told that they cannot do things according to their own whims and fancies. Has the MBPP briefed all the landowners?
"The council cannot just go around issuing summonses without providing proper guidance. Prevention is always better than cure," he added, noting that he has nothing against the landowners.
Shah Headan said all he could do was advise the landowner to stop any works to prevent further problems to the nearby residents, but enforcement of the matter was with the MBPP.
Meanwhile, landowner Mohd Nasir Sulaiman, 39, said he bought the hill land more than five years ago and had planned to build his own house and a durian orchard.
He said he had been visited by officers from MBPP several times but had only received one summons.
"All works have been for stopped now," he added.