Here you can see a stretch of the collapsed slope near the Lighthouse Academy along the road to Batu Ferringhi. The far end, covered in a blue plastic sheet, looks steep.
Another landslide in Penang, more lives lost (updated)
The latest landslide to hit Penang at 9.15pm – at a construction site near a small private school and the Lost Paradise Resort, close to the beach along the northwestern coastline of Penang Island on the way to Batu Ferringhi.
Again, it is the faceless migrant construction workers who bear the brunt of the tragedy – four Myanmar nationals are believed to be missing, though there might be others – just as in the two other landslides in 2018 and 2017, when nearly all the fatalities were migrant construction workers.
Migrant workers were believed to be living in shacks or containers around the site. Reports say they were building a retaining wall (see video above) at the site below the winding road around the island. (The city council later said the work had not received a permit.)
Our hearts go out to the families of all those who lost their lives.
Many questions will once again be raised in the days to come, not least about the wisdom of carrying out construction work on or near the sensitive hill slopes of Penang Island.
How effective are existing hill-slope development guidelines, hill-slope monitoring, enforcement (including against illegal construction) and prosecution?
Update: The tragedy also highlights concerns about the road leading to Batu Ferringhi, where high density property development has been approved over the last decade (beyond what the Penang Structure Plan had allowed?) leading to extra traffic load on the road.
In 2015, I blogged about an engineer residing in Batu Ferringhi who warned about cracks that had appeared further down the road leading to the beach hotels. Some of the slopes between the road and the beach below are steep, almost like cliffs. I wrote then: “Residents worry that the supporting infrastructure (eg roads) will be unable to cope with the higher density.”
This puts into the spotlight all those disturbing and stubborn plans for a mega highway (tunnelling through the hills along certain stretches), “paired roads” and relentless property development along the risky sensitive hill slopes of Penang Island – despite knowing the serious risks.
Will we ever learn? Or will it once again be business as usual on the hill slopes once the news fades away.
The following is a statement from Sahabat Alam Malaysia and the Tanjung Bungah Residents Association:
Authorities must inspect and monitor all works on slopes
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and the Tanjung Bungah Residents’ Association (TBRA) express our shock and alarm at yet another tragedy in the Tanjung Bungah area, near the Lost Paradise Hotel which has claimed four lives yesterday.
The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) has stated in a press statement that the tragedy was the result of the collapse of a retaining wall under construction at the site – which did not have any approval from the authority.
It is indeed shocking that no approval from the MBPP for the retaining wall construction was obtained by the owners who allowed the earthworks, which appeared to be going on even in the late evening.
Clearly, no lessons have been learnt from the tragic Granito landslide tragedy that happened on 21 October 2017.
SAM and TBRA call for an immediate investigation by the Penang state authorities, including the MBPP into this tragedy – and not just treat it as just another work-site incident.
The owners responsible for this fatal event must be taken to task for violating the laws and stern action must be taken with strong penalties imposed, unlike in the Granito case, where the contractors got off with a mere RM35,000 fine.
What is also clear from this tragedy is for the authorities, especially the MBPP to take proactive measures by monitoring and inspecting all earthworks activities on the island, especially in erosion-prone areas such as in Tanjung Bungah, Batu Ferringi and Teluk Bahang as well as in other parts of Penang.
The MBPP must not wait for complaints or tragedies to happen before taking action, when it is dutybound to act to ensure that the laws are being complied with. Otherwise, more lives will be lost in vain.
Meenakshi Raman is president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia and chairperson of Tanjung Bungah Residents Association.
The Tolak Tambak message spreads further
As the groundswell against the land reclamation builds up, young mainstream journalists are the latest to join in the act, producing this snazzy informative video to shed more light on this controversy.
Quietly, quietly, an ad appears in the papers
It never rains but it pours – and it is raining mega projects in Penang, whichever way you look.
PTMP funding model has failed: Time to scrap SRS proposal
The chief minister’s recent statement that the massive reclamation off the southern coast of Penang Island may be modified, scaled down or even reviewed is a tacit admission that the funding model of the SRS proposal has failed.
Press freedom: Build on creditable progress for freer expression
Since the last general election, the space for press freedom has expanded considerably.
Six reasons why fishermen oppose Penang’s massive reclamation
The fishermen have their say now:
We are fishermen in Sungai Batu who are directly affected by the project to create three artificial islands off southern Penang Island.
Education minister, deputy both laud Sungai Ara school’s innovative approach
Good to see Education Minister Maszlee Malik and his deputy Teo Nie Ching both endorsing the Sungai Ara Tamil Primary School’s innovative and wholesome approach to education.
Penang: An obsession with airports, swap deals and land reclamation
You’ve got to wonder whether those thinking of these extravagant ideas have the best interests of northern region residents at heart – or if their minds are clouded with property development, construction activity and ringgit signs.
This is what we stand to lose…
… if the massive 4,500 land reclamation plan to create three artificial islands off the southern coastline of Penang Island proceeds.
Penang’s ‘golden zone’
This excellent piece about the southern coastline of Penang Island is by Khoo Salma Nasution. Bear in mind, this area is a source of prawns, fish, shellfish, crabs, even oysters. What happens to the supply of all this when reclamation work starts?
Video of fishermen rescuing beached dolphin goes viral
A heart warming video of two guys, believed to be fishermen, rescuing a beached dolphin on mainland Penang, believed to be near the RMAF base has gone viral.
It makes you wonder how the poor thing got stranded on land in the first place.
The water in that area is not the clearest or cleanest.
This site is believed to be about a kilometre or two away from Pantai Bersih, where the carcass of a dolphin was found on the shore in 2012.
For saving this creature, these two guys have been hailed as unsung heroes and guardians of the sea. All of us need to play our part in safeguarding the treasures of the deep.
Six key areas that new MACC chief Latheefa Koya should focus on
Selamat Hari Raya, folks! I hope you are lovely Raya break. While some of you were enjoying your ketupats, I was busy writing this piece. Let me know in the coments below if I missed out anything from Latheefa’s priority list.
Penang land reclamation: Where is the sand coming from?
It is not just over 4,000 fishermen in Penang who will be affected by the 4,500 land reclamation project off the southern coast of Penang Island. If the sand to create three artificial islands off the southern coast of Penang Island is mined from the coastal seabed of Perak, over 6,000 more fishermen could be affected.
Five reasons to appreciate Sungai Ara Primary School’s holistic approach to education
Ever since the Sungai Ara Tamil Primary School in Penang became the talk of the town for its innovative approach to education – which was heartily endorsed by Education Minister Maszlee Malik during his recent visit – it appears that some quarters are unhappy.
If even a 1.4km highway faces cashflow problems…
… what will happen when they try to build the RM9bn (or RM7.5bn, depending on who you ask) 19.5km “Pan Island Link” – all six lanes of it with four tunnel stretches on risky, sensitive hill terrain.
Ecological nightmare haunts Penang
Things are not looking good for the coastal waters of Penang, what with high contamination of heavy metals, even a dead zone, at Teluk Bahang and the proposed massive reclamation off the southern coast of Penang Island. And we haven’t even talked about the dumping of imported waste. It is all shaping up to be an environmental nightmare.
At busy Ramadan bazaar in Penang, young Malaysians call for climate action
The global event yesterday came two months after the largest international climate demonstration ever.
Penang mega project: Public consultation or tokenism?
This was the press conference held on Monday at the CAP office – the first major event held there since the passing of the legendary SM Mohamed Idris.