TTF: On the 25th of October 2017, Lim Guan Eng proposed the setting up of a State Commission of Inquiry (SCI) in relation to a landslide that claimed the lives of a Malaysian and several foreign workers in Penang. However, not only has the Chief Minister gone mum about it, he seems to have arrived at his own conclusion, that the tragedy – which really was manslaughter – was nothing more than a worksite accident.
But how on earth could he have known that?
I mean, if he is so sure the loss of lives were the result of a worksite accident, why announce an SCI in the first place? Wasn’t it he who told us that the SCI was to discover if the loss of lives were indeed the result of a worksite accident? But if the SCI has yet to take off, how can he be so sure about the cause of the tragedy?
See how he toys with your minds?
Jahara is right (see news item below). The Penang state government has approved licences, planning permits and a whole lot of other stuff almost on a unilateral basis. TTF has repeatedly claimed that the hillslope development project in Lengkok Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah, was approved even before an application was submitted to the DoE. But has the Chief Minister made any attempt to address these claims?
No.
And neither has he commented on claims that the number of bodies buried beneath the ‘accident’ site while Search and Rescue (SaR) operations were still ongoing could have been far more than the reported 11. The fact is, Guan Eng entered a deal with the developer to conceal the existence of illegal foreign workers who disappeared on the day the accident occurred.
He feared, that if the SaR teams made the disappearance public, the authorities would launch independent probes into standard operating procedures (SOP) employed by the developer and discover a whole lot of things he didn’t want anyone to know. And that is why he announced the SCI – do you actually think an SCI put together by ‘his men’ would scrutinise methods employed by the state or the developer under a high-powered microscope?
That being said, why not make public the findings of the One-Stop Centre Committee (OSC) Chow Kon Yeow spoke of (READ HERE) instead? By making them public, Guan Eng would give Malaysians a chance to discover if his administration was correct to override the DoE’s decision to reject the hillslope project on account of its proximity to a granite quarry.
So why wait?
Why not make the OSC’s findings public tomorrow?
GEORGE TOWN: Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) has accused the Penang state government of approving licenses, planning permits and rezoning of lands without approvals from relevant government agencies.
State Opposition leader Datuk Jahara Hamid claimed the state government had approved planning permission without the consent from other relevant agencies.
She cited the Tanjung Bungah project where a deadly landslide occurred in a construction site of a development project, killing 11 people last month, as an example.
“The project did not get the green light from the Department of Environment and yet they approved it and they have also approved six other projects along hill slopes despite protests from residents so this is very worrying,” she said in a press conference outside the legislative assembly hall today.
She added that the state government also approved licenses for entertainment outlets, massage parlours, karaoke centres and snooker centres without green light from the authorities.
“They approved the licenses for those places even though the police did not approve it,” she claimed.
She also accused the state government of not taking stern action against illegal entertainment outlets, massage parlours, karaoke centres and snooker centres.
“They only issued compounds and these places, which are usually front for vice activities, will continue to operate as usual,” she said.
She said the state government approved a total 1,174 licenses for entertainment outlets, karaoke centres, snooker centres and massage parlours since 2008.
Out of the 1,174 licenses, 76 were for entertainment outlets on the island, 322 karaoke outlets, 18 snooker centres and 228 massage parlours while on the mainland, there are 272 entertainment outlets, 104 karaoke centres, 141 snooker centres and 118 massage parlours.
Jahara claimed there are a total 842 illegal outlets in the state consisting of 536 entertainment outlets, 138 karaoke outlets, 63 snooker centres and 105 massage parlours.
The Teluk Ayer Tawar assemblyman also claimed agriculture lands were rezoned without approval from the agricultural department.
“The state approved it without approval but if the rezoning is to build a mosque or a school, we will still accept but this is approved for development or to build a factory,” she said.
Pulau Betong assemblyman Datuk Muhamad Farid Saad said that the state government does not take recommendations made by federal agencies into its consideration.
“The state government doesn’t use recommendations given by other federal agencies,” he claimed.
Source: The Malay Mail Online
