Aliran is horrified at the news of a landslide at a construction site along Lorong Lembah Permai 3 in Tanjung Bungah this morning.
Fourteen workers are believed to have been buried alive under tons of earth from a cut hill slope. Three bodies have been recovered and a search-and-rescue mission is ongoing.
While the cause for the landslide is as yet undetermined, this disaster must make the state government and the people of Penang stop and reassess hill-slope development in Penang. The number of victims indicates the gravity of this disaster.
Who will bear responsibility for what has happened? How do we account for the loss of life? Who are these workers who have died? What are their names? How old are they? Where are they from? What are their families being told? No amount of compensation can bring back lost lives or the ruined futures of the families of these men.
If the construction of this project (reportedly a residential tower block project) is so unsafe, how safe will it be for those who will eventually occupy the completed homes or for those who live around the finished project? Who will be responsible for their safety?
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All quarters need to reflect on the environmental degradation which has taken place here and elsewhere in Penang as other hill-slope cutting and development continues.
This disaster also raises questions of unsustainable development, of a development model that seemingly puts profits above people.
Aliran joins with others in the call for a stop to all hill-slope development in Penang above the stipulated ecological and safety thresholds. Development control guidelines and planning approvals have to be tightened, and firm action must be taken against those who do not comply with these guidelines.
Development that compromises people’s health and safety and endangers lives is unacceptable.
Aliran executive committee
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
This is also about modern day slavery. In our crazy greed for profit, we will exploit humans and environment alike. Migrant workers and refugees are just fodder for this greed; they are the ones literally building our future, and they are dying for it. But we give them no respect and no protection and let us wonder if their families are going to get anything like adequate compensation, if they get anything at all. This latest catastrophe is unlikely to do anything fundamental in changing the way we treat migrants and refugees, nor will it stop the rampant plundering of our environment for construction industry profits. But at least let us clearly link environmental disaster with profit greed and with the exploitation of both humans and our planet.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Your loving chief minister is the one who ignores the stepback requirement for hillside development. The federal guidelines require a stepback with a distance twice the height of the hill….