According to the Penang Hill Local Plan, the recommended maximum carrying capacity of the hill is 10000 people daily – a threshold that has been hit or even exceeded during peak periods with the expanded capacity of the Penang Hill Railway following the controversial decision for the track to bypass the Middle Station.
If cable cars are introduced, even more people will throng the hill, pushing the figure well beyond 10000/day. So no escape from the madding crowd for some peace and serenity then.
The public hearing for the draft Local Plans for Seberang Perai Utara and Seberang Perai Tengah will be held on 26 November – 9 December 2013 at the Mawar Room at MPSP on the mainland.
A proposal for cable car lines from the Youth Park, Botanic Garden and Teluk Bahang has been tacked on to the draft Special Area Plan for Penang Hill, which is being touted as a “green, heritage destination”. There is concern, however, that this could add to traffic congestion around the Youth Park/Botanic Garden area while pushing visitors well past the 10000 people/day carrying capacity of the Penang Hill summit, as gazetted in the existing Penang Hill Local Plan.
Some scientists are making the link between climate change and Typhoon Haiyan. Unfortunately, much of the corporate media remain largely silent about the link, perhaps because large corporations which contribute advertising revenue to the media, are among the major culprits of greenhouse gas emissions.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald:
Professor Will Steffen, a researcher at the ANU and member of the Climate Council, said scientists understand how a hotter, moister climate is already affecting storms such as Haiyan.
“Once [cyclones] do form, they get most of their energy from the surface waters of the ocean,” Professor Steffen said. “We know sea-surface temperatures are warming pretty much around the planet, so that’s a pretty direct influence of climate change on the nature of the storm.”
Data compiled from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows sea temperatures were about 0.5 to 1 degree above normal in the waters to the east of the Philippines as Haiyan began forming. The waters cooled in the storm’s wake, an indication of how the storm sucked up energy.
The Bishop of Rome, Francis, has railed against corruption again, severely chastising those who donate to the church on the one hand while stealing from the state and the poor on the other.
The strongest typhoon ever to make landfall in recorded human history – so strong that if there was a Category 6, it would have fallen squarely in that box – is not a natural disaster. Instead, the Philippines’ lead negotiator to the UN climate talks in Warsaw, Yeb Sano, has firmly linked the devastation in his country to climate change.
So why aren’t more of the corporate media highlighting this crucial angle? Is it because the corporate sector is responsible for a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions?
The Bishop of Rome, Francis, has condemned the culture of bribery and corruption as serious sins that rob people, including the children of the culprits, of their dignity.
