KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — Penang DAP state assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu wants to leave the party, citing disappointment with the state government over its rampant hillside development.

“I am not in line with the party leadership. There have been no reforms. It’s time for me to go,” he reportedly told The Star.

He added that his party leaders are also aware of his decision, and reportedly said that he has no intention of joining any other Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties.

The report however did not detail the justification behind Teh’s move, but Teh has been a vocal critic of the DAP-governed Penang state government’s hill clearing activities and hillside development works.

Advertisement

A landslide occurred at a construction site of a 50-storey affordable housing project in Tanjung Bungah two weeks ago, killing 11 workers.

The state government has insisted that the project in Tanjung Bungah was on land below 76m and that it was not on a hill slope.

Last week, Teh however, reportedly claimed that he had shared a report on the risk of hillside project development in the state including the project at Lengkok Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah here with the Penang DAP state government.

Advertisement

Teh, who is from the DAP, said the report was the result of a study by a group of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) experts, a South Korean and a Japanese institution and civil engineers from Kuala Lumpur, national newswire Bernama reported.

“But at that time, the Penang state government regarded me as being too sensitive and as if to say that the matter (landslide incidents) could not possibly happen and now it has happened and killed 11 workers there. Who will be accountable?

“If they (state government) had cared and scrutinised the report, maybe the incident would not have taken place. Because of the greed of the quarters concerned, innocent lives were lost,” he was quoted saying.