Hill Development Projects: Putting the record straight from Star’s dishonest efforts to rewrite history

Star has developed a persistent blind spot by insisting that the previous BN government did no wrong whilst the present PR state government must shoulder the entire blame for inheriting all the hill projects above 250 feet approved by the previous BN government.  The Penang state government has to put the record straight from this dishonest attempt to rewrite history.

In its enthusiasm to lynch the Penang PR state government, Star has ignored the fact that the Penang PR state government did not approve any development projects above 250 feet. At the same time, the MCA-owned paper makes the startling claim that there are PR or DAP assemblymen who agree with the Star that the hills in Penang are dying under PR’s stewardship. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The present PR state government has imposed stringent guidelines on hill projects approved by the previous state government that has been worked out by an independent professional committee newly set up, headed by Oxford geotechnical engineer Dr. Gue See Saw and two other members from The Institute of Engineers Malaysia and Perbadanan Akitek Malaysia. Whilst these new hill slope guidelines have caused unhappiness amongst developers about the legality of implementing these technical guidelines retrospectively, the state government is determined to compel compliance. And yet the Star and its BN accomplices continues to tag on the Penang PR state government as pro-developer and even claim that there is a gag order imposed by the state government and MPPP on those who wish to speak out on hill projects.

This is untrue. There is no gag order imposed by the state government on any assemblyman. I have checked with MPPP President AR Patahiyah binti Ismail and she has also confirmed that no gag order was imposed except stating the reminder by the Appeals Board and the courts not to publicly discuss cases that are being heard because they are subjudice. Even MPPP Councilor Lim Mah Hui has confirmed that there was no gag order imposed on him.

There is no need to respond to personalities quoted in the Star with a partisan political background, However, I wish to refer to the suggestion made by George Aeria, a resident who had supported the PR in 2008 general elections, that the PR state government must cancel all hill projects approved previously by the BN state government.

The Penang state government does not deny there are problems caused to residents by hill development projects approved by the previous administration. But much as the state government wishes to make these problems disappear by cancelling all the hill projects approved by the previous BN government, that solution is not feasible. To cancel these projects would require huge compensation being paid out to the developers, a sum that neither MPPP nor state government can afford.

As an estimate to the possible compensatory costs involved, Boustead Holdings Bhd is making a claim of RM60 million from MPPP following a reduction of the height of its building from 12 storey to 5 storey in the George Town Heritage area to comply with the 18 meter height requirement of UNESCO World Heritage City Guidelines. Again the 12 storey height limit was approved to Boustead by the previous state government, which broke its promise to UNESCO that no such approval above 5 storey would be given.

Based on the Boustead experience, if reducing the height by a mere 12 storey to 5 storey can attract a claim of RM60 million, the state or MPPP would have to fork out hundreds of millions of ringgit or even billions to cancel all the hill projects approved by the previous administration.

This would definitely bankrupt MPPP or the state government. PR cannot behave irresponsibly to 1.6 million Penangites to allow MPPP or the state to go bankrupt. For that reason, the PR state government has taken the difficult choice to manage the hill projects approved by the previous BN government with stringent hill slope safety guidelines to ensure public safety.

We know this decision will not make existing hill slope residents like George Aeria happy. For that reason, we would respect his choice should he decide to switch back his support to BN and trust the very party that has caused the problems in the first place. George Aeria will have to think through carefully whether BN can be trusted not to approve new hill projects above 250 feet or be able to cancel existing projects BN had approved prior to 2008.

The Penang PR state government can only assure the public that we will not follow the previous BN state government’s practice of approving development projects above 250 feet. The PR state government would continue to impose stringent guidelines on hill projects previously approved as monitored by the independent professional technical hill slope committee headed by Dr Gue See Saw.

LIM GUAN ENG