Aliran has just released this statement:
Aliran is appalled at the loss of workers’ lives in a landslide at the Bukit Kukus paired road construction site in Penang. The landslide brought down several containers and wooden shacks, claiming at least seven lives with another three victims still missing and injuring three people.
A group of Penangites held a vigil this evening for the workers who lost their lives in the Bukit Kukus landslide on Friday afternoon and the Tanjung Bungah landslide victims at the Granito construction site exactly a year ago.
So another landslide again in Penang.. this time about a dozen dead or missing at a construction site for the elevated Paya Terubong “paired road”.
A concerned Penangite has sent in a dozen questions that MPs and Penang state assembly members should raise about the controversial RM46bn transport proposal which is being pushed through despite strong public opposition.
Here is what I received:
This piece by Laurence Loh calls on all of us to heed the alarm bells set off by the UN about an impending climate genocide. The Penang government in particular has to take the first step by reviewing all its proposals by applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as evaluation criteria. It should insist that its project partners be ready to justify their proposals along SDG criteria to independent reviewers and to the people of Penang. They must be prepared to modify them if they are not compatible, or worse, if they are directly contradictory to these SDGs.
The collapse of the beam placed at the site of the construction of a RM275m “paired road” at Jalan Tun Sardon highlights the risks of construction along the hill slopes of Penang. The incident occurred just before Penang Forum released a media statement calling for an independent panel to review the EIA of the controversial Pan Island Link highway.
Anwar Ibrahim is back in Parliament bagging 71% of votes cast in the Port Dickson, despite a lower turnout.
A planned three-hour official session yesterday morning at Komtar to solicit feedback on the draft Penang Structure Plan 2030 from civil society was cut short to half that duration after relentless questioning by activists.
You’ve got to applaud the federal government for reviewing the MRT2 contract in seeking the best possible deal for the people.
The federal government’s intention to “decouple” land swaps from public-private projects should be welcomed.