Thesun 2009-06-24 Page06 Hillsploe Unsafe After Unapproved Cleaning

6

theSun

MASRY CHE ANI/ THESUN

news without borders

| WEDNESDAY JUNE 24 2009

Hillslope unsafe after unapproved clearing by Himanshu Bhatt [email protected]

GEORGE TOWN: A hillslope above a residential area in Tanjung Bungah is unsafe after the developer of an adjacent project cleared the area without approval, Penang environment committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said yesterday. Slope activity next to the Surin condominium project by Bolton Bhd has now necessitated urgent stabilising work on the hill, he said. Phee said the developer was conducting remedial cutting on the hill to stabilise the slope. “If you stop them now, there will be the possibility of a landslide,” he said. Approved under the previous state government, Surin and another nearby project, Beverly Hills by Taman Ratu Developers Sdn Bhd, were slapped with temporary stop-work orders by the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) late last year. Phee said state local government committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow and he would meet with the developer to discuss remedial work. “We may take the developer to court for illegal work done beyond the company’s boundaries,” he said. “They have to do damage control immediately. They must take responsibility.” Phee also said the need for stabilising work was not included in a geo-technical report for the project. “Here is a crime to cover up and how it goes past the technical committee of the local council concerns me,” he said. “I was shocked when the tanah lapang (open land) which was to be surrendered to the local council and the government for pub-

briefs ‘MACC must have more watchdog officers’ PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must increase the number of its “watchdog” officers as its internal investigations team of about 20 members represents only about 1% of the total workforce of over 2,000. The commission’s Corruption Consultation and Prevention Panel chairman, Tan Sri Ramon

State Forestry Department staff plant trees along Pantai Bayan Mutiara, with Penang Bridge in the background.

lic usage was on Class III (gradient of 26°-35°) to Class IV (above 35°) hill land. “How can you give a piece of tanah lapang which is on a Class III? How would people have access? What are you going to do with the land?” Opposition to the projects became public in September last year when flood waters streamed down the slopes into the houses of residents of the Chee Seng Gardens area at the bottom of the hill. Residents have since held protests, asking how the two projects had come to be approved by the MPPP in the first place. Navaratnam, said yesterday “it will be great” to expand the pool of internal investigators. “The mechanism to investigate corruption within the MACC must be strengthened considerably to improve public perception.” “Prevention of corruption can be tediously difficult unless the public perception of the MACC improves considerably. “If the core is weak and shows signs of corruption, then it makes it very difficult for any anti-corruption agency to deliver on the bottom line.” He also said the MACC must step up its public relations to project a credible image. “The MACC may be doing more than what the public knows but unless the public is fully informed of the good (work), the poor public perception will continue,” he said. “So the PR must be stepped up.” Transparency International of Malaysia president Datuk Paul Low said a proper whistleblowing mechanism should be in place at the MACC to project a better image. He told theSun although the MACC has several independent committees and panels, it will be suitable to use a whistle-blowing mechanism to channel information on officers who could probably be corrupt themselves.

Councillor gets SMS threat SEBERANG PERAI: A Seberang Perai DAP municipal councillor received an SMS threat on Sunday morning in connection with the council’s crackdown on illegal hawkers. Soon Lip Chee received an anonymous message written in Chinese at about 5am, warning that he would receive a live bullet if he did not stop the crackdown. “But the action was decided by the council’s licensing department and carried out by the enforcement division, not by the councillors,” he said. Soon, who is the DAP whip in the council, said it was unclear whether the threat was meant for all councillors or a personal attack on him. “But this does not deter me from my duty as a councillor and a lawyer,” he told a press conference in Bandar Perda yesterday after lodging a police report.

Iran: Courts will teach protesters a lesson pg 8

Paltry allocation points to marginalisation: CM GEORGE TOWN: Penang has been allocated a miniscule 0.4% of the federal government’s critical budget for development and management under the second stimulus package, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said yesterday. Saying the paltry allocation was an indication that the state was being marginalised, he urged Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackob to examine and address the matter. Lim said the unjustified sum did not reflect the state’s contribution to the national economy, pointing out that some 30% of the country’s total exports come from Penang. Nor Mohamed had told reporters on Sunday that Penang has not been left behind in the country’s development and was part of the nation’s mainstream development. He was responding to Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s reported statement on a recent visit to Penang that the state’s infrastructure seemed inferior compared to that of Ipoh and Seremban. Lim noted that from a budget of RM15 billion allocated for management and development under the package unveiled in March, Penang had been allocated only about

RM60 million. “That is less than half a per cent,” he said after officiating a state-level World Forestry Day celebration at Pantai Bayan Mutiara. “If this not neglecting or marginalising development in the state, what else can you call it?” Lim said he would personally bring the matter up with Nor Mohamed, who is also Tasek Gelugor MP, in parliament tomorrow. On a separate matter, Lim accused federal Penang Port Commission (PPC) chairman Tan Cheng Liang of misleading the state and public with his statement that the current operator of the cross-channel ferry network wanted the federal government to take over the service. Tan’s reported statement had prompted Lim to express the state’s interest in taking over the operation of ferry services, which led to a protracted war of words between the two in the press. The operator, Penang Port Sdn Bhd, which comes under the Finance Ministry, had on Monday cleared the air by saying it was working on a plan to turn the company around. PPSB incurred losses of some RM21 million since it took over the ferry services.

Arrest warrant for Kapar MP KUALA LUMPUR: The Coroner’s Court yesterday issued a warrant of arrest for Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam after he continued to avoid a subpoena to testify at an inquest into the death of actress K. Sujatha. Coroner Mohd Faizi Che Abu said the court was satisfied with police efforts to serve the subpoena and had no choice but to issue a warrant to compel on Manikavasagam to appear before the court. The warrant was issued after Deputy Public Prosecutor Geethan Ram Vincent asked Chief Inspector Tay Chew Thwa to elaborate on efforts made to serve the subpoena. Tay said he had received the warrant from the investigation officer at about 12.30pm yesterday, and on contacting Manikavasagam on his handphone, was told by the MP to meet him in the parliament lobby at 2.30pm. On his arrival in parliament, Tay again called Manikavasagam, but was told he was out for lunch and would not be back since he had a meeting to attend in Kapar. “Manikavasagam also informed me via SMS that his lawyers were still overseas and requested a postponement of the inquest as he was busy attending parliament proceedings,” Tay said. Vincent said police had previously on June 17 and 18 attempted to serve the subpoena on Manikavasagam, but were given the same excuse. “Since there is enough evidence to show Manikavasagam was aware of the court proceedings and was evading the subpoena, it is up to the court’s discretion whether to issue a warrant of arrest,” he said. Counsel Datuk K. Kumaraendran, representing Maika Holdings chief executive officer S. Vell Paari, also pressed for an arrest warrant. He was addressing the court at the inquest into the death of Sujatha, 28, at the Tengku Ampuan

Rahimah Hospital in Klang on June 25, 2007 – six days after she admitted to drinking weed killer. Earlier, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital’s Forensics Department head Prof Madya Dr Shahrom Abdul Wahid told the court the medical officer at Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital did not follow correct procedure in releasing Sujatha’s body without a post mortem. “Conducting a post mortem was a must when the police issued Form POL 61, even though the cause of death was already known,” he said. Shahrom said the medical officer had failed to comply with Section 328 of the Criminal Procedure Code which states that in a medico-legal case, other than clinical findings, a forensics examination should be carried out to establish the cause of death. He said an internal inquiry into the conduct of doctors and support staff of the hospital involved in handling Sujatha’s case indicated that they had failed to strictly comply with procedure, and showed miscommunication in the handling of a case involving police investigations. “This could be seen when the doctor sought the consent of Sujatha’s family for a post-mortem, which in fact was not a requirement when the investigation officer wanted further examination to confirm the cause of death.” Asked by DPP Anselm Charles Fernandis about his expert findings in the case, Sharom said the actress was given the best treatment possible for paraquat poisoning and that she had consumed the weed killer without being physically forced to do so. He said that had a forensics examination been conducted, the results would have been more conclusive to show whether Sujatha had committed suicide, or whether she had been pregnant. The inquest continues on July 7. – Bernama