JUNE 28 — The Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) issued a stop-work order on April 25 to the landowners of a piece of land on top of the Bukit Gambier hills which was illegally cleared without permission from the relevant authorities. Many members of the public and civil societies voiced their protests against this flagrant destruction of the hills which took place right under the noses of the authorities.

An English daily reported that a search with the Registrar of Companies found that one of the plots of land that was illegally cleared belongs to a newly-incorporated RM2 company whose shareholder is a well-known Penang tycoon and his family.

It has been eight weeks now since the stop-work order was issued. The issue seems to have quietened down and no report has been forthcoming on what has happened after the stop-work order. Questions raised by members of the public, civil societies and even a councillor in the MPPP full council meeting have been met with silence.

Has the land been rezoned from hill land to residential land? If so, who and when was the rezoning approved? What were the justifications for approving the rezoning? Why has this massive illegal hill clearing, which can even be seen on the approach from the Penang Bridge, escaped the eyes of so many relevant authorities? Penang ratepayers are still waiting for the answers.

The state authorities have confirmed that the hill clearing is illegal as no permit has been given to the landowners. If the culprits are indeed found guilty, the full force of the law must be used to act as a strong deterrent to these and future lawbreakers. The maximum fine including a jail term must be imposed on the offenders. Puny fines of RM50,000 or so are no deterrent to these businessmen when the gross development value of these projects are in the tens of millions of ringgit.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, in a press conference on June 4, has said that “nobody is above the law” and the Penang state government “will not shield anyone” who has broken the law. Penang folk are watching to see if the state authorities will act without fear or favour in this case.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.