22 March, George Town Due to the extensive swaths of the hills being cut for the project, residents of high rise buildings close to the development of a highway project in Penang on a dangerous hill slope are living in terror of landslides.
Richard Lim, a member of the Kingfisher Series Condominium residents’ association committee, claimed that neither the project developer nor any of the authorities have made any assurances that the indiscriminate hill cutting won’t result in unintended catastrophes.
He revealed this during a news conference conducted by Penang Forum to highlight the highway project here today. “There is no guarantee of our safety, they are cutting off trees, clearing the hill and leaving it bare, and if there are heavy rains, landslides might happen,” he warned.
A residents’ association committee member from the Kingfisher Series Condominium, Richard Lim, said there are no guarantees by any of the authorities or project developer that the indiscriminate hill clearing will not lead to unwanted disasters. — Picture by Opalyn Mok
The highway project is a RM851 million bypass which stretches 6km to connect Lebuhraya Thean Teik in Air Itam to Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.
Lim also said residents in the condominium were never informed about the project before it commenced.
He said the project started immediately after the 15th general election last November.
“On January 14 of this year, after they started it, a meeting was held about the project, and the developer was the only one present to introduce the project but without any details,” he claimed.
He said that neither the Seri Delima assemblywoman Syerleena Abdul Rashid, whose district includes the region, nor any other state officials were present to reassure the locals of their safety.
“They promised to arrange another meeting with details about the project when we asked questions about it during that meeting, but there has been silence since then,” he claimed.
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Source: MalayMail
