Where did all that mud come from?
Guest writer tunglang shares his weekend with us:
The Consumers’ Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia are very distressed by the tragedy that has taken place yesterday and early morning today in Penang.
And so it has come to pass… reports of damage all over after a relentless overnight storm battered Penang. Near Straits Regency, behind Surin, in Tanjung Bungah, a dangerous road has collapsed.
Barely a week after Penang Forum 8’s Dialogue on Floods, prolonged heavy rain is lashing the state, inundating several streets.
Penang Hills Watch, an initiative of Penang Forum, has submitted three reports to the Penang state government containing a total of 56 cases of hill clearing.
The local government in a democratic country should enjoy the autonomy and possess the integrity to make its own policies, rules and guidelines, city councillor Khoo Salma Nasution told a full council meeting of the Penang Island City Council in a landmark address this morning. “The council should ensure its own rules are not compromised, that they do not need to bow to the developer’s logic, to all sorts of development pressures or to political pressures, just because Penang is a ‘land-scarce’ state.”
Representatives from all parties turned up for Penang Forum 8, which was attended by over 200 people.
How will Najib narrow the fiscal deficit ahead of the general election while dishing out the ‘goodies’ especially to rural voters? What about allocations for healthcare, low-income housing and universities?