Christmas at the Venetian, Macau
Christmas in Macau
Christmas at the Pavillion, KLThursday, December 25, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Tale of Two Islands
Penang Island's Waterfront
Hong Kong Island's Central Business District: Hong Kong's public expenditure is 10 times that of Penang.
Pedestrian linkages in Hong Kong enable people to move about safely.
This is Hong Kong Island. AS expected, too much is at stake for the Penang State Government to ban hill-slope projects in the State. (see previous post). The case of Hong Kong should be taken within its proper context. Much public funds would be needed for the State and Municipal authorities to monitor and maintain built slopes. I believe Hong Kong's per capita GDP is at least three times that of Penang's, and its annual budget expenditure is 10 times that of Penang and MPPP's combined. Its population is about 7 times the size of Penang's. It's wishful thinking to expect the Federal Government to pay, as the PM said, for some people to enjoy the good view. We just do not have the resources, period.
Hong Kong's public services is super-efficient. It is business-friendly in the true sense of the word. For example, the huge investment in public infrastructure such as its public transportation system and its famous pedestrian linkages between and within buildings that are all geared towards making it easy for people to move around and providing an efficient business environment.
These are the priorities that Penang should consider and not be distracted by projects that are bound to create environmental problems, degrade the landscape and spoil the natural beauty of the island.
The Penang State Structure Plan has reported that there is sufficient developable land in the State and the present housing supply including those coming onstream is sufficient to last until the year 2020 and beyond. So there is really no justification for the government to allow our hills to be cut and degrade the natural environment.
If it is really that important for the economy and the people of Penang, then the State Government should impose a levy on developers and purchasers of hill-slope developments to pay for the monitoring and maintenance of built slopes.
The Street, Drainage and Building Act and the Local Government Act should be amended to remove the 'protection' clause for those in authority. Let Councillors be answerable and subject to legal action.
No blanket ban on hillside projects in Penang
This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my/)URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/14/nation/2805042&sec=nation
__________________________________________________________________________
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Government will not introduce a blanket state-wide ban on hillside projects, state Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said.
He said good practices and guidelines was the key to avoiding disasters.
“We are concerned about landslides but we do not intend to take a drastic stand and ban hillside development altogether.
“With good guidelines and engineering practices, development can go on,” Chow said before launching a courtesy campaign at a shopping centre here yesterday.
Citing Hong Kong as an example, Chow said hillside development could be carried out smoothly with the right guidelines.
However, he said, the state government would not hesitate to slap a stop work order on any project which flouted the guidelines.
“We have issued many stop work orders since we took office (in March). The important thing is to ensure that development on hillsides are done safely and under close supervision,” Chow said.
He said the state executive council had, on Friday, decided to form two supporting committees to the recently formulated independent panel of engineering advisers that was given the task of evaluating hillslope projects in the state.
“A supervisory committee will help in overseeing hillside development projects with the state Town and Country Planning Committee acting as the secretariat. The enforcement committee, on the other hand, will work under the Penang Municipal Council to ensure all rules are complied with,” Chow said.
Hong Kong's public services is super-efficient. It is business-friendly in the true sense of the word. For example, the huge investment in public infrastructure such as its public transportation system and its famous pedestrian linkages between and within buildings that are all geared towards making it easy for people to move around and providing an efficient business environment.
These are the priorities that Penang should consider and not be distracted by projects that are bound to create environmental problems, degrade the landscape and spoil the natural beauty of the island.
The Penang State Structure Plan has reported that there is sufficient developable land in the State and the present housing supply including those coming onstream is sufficient to last until the year 2020 and beyond. So there is really no justification for the government to allow our hills to be cut and degrade the natural environment.
If it is really that important for the economy and the people of Penang, then the State Government should impose a levy on developers and purchasers of hill-slope developments to pay for the monitoring and maintenance of built slopes.
The Street, Drainage and Building Act and the Local Government Act should be amended to remove the 'protection' clause for those in authority. Let Councillors be answerable and subject to legal action.
No blanket ban on hillside projects in Penang
This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my/)URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/14/nation/2805042&sec=nation
__________________________________________________________________________
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Government will not introduce a blanket state-wide ban on hillside projects, state Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said.
He said good practices and guidelines was the key to avoiding disasters.
“We are concerned about landslides but we do not intend to take a drastic stand and ban hillside development altogether.
“With good guidelines and engineering practices, development can go on,” Chow said before launching a courtesy campaign at a shopping centre here yesterday.
Citing Hong Kong as an example, Chow said hillside development could be carried out smoothly with the right guidelines.
However, he said, the state government would not hesitate to slap a stop work order on any project which flouted the guidelines.
“We have issued many stop work orders since we took office (in March). The important thing is to ensure that development on hillsides are done safely and under close supervision,” Chow said.
He said the state executive council had, on Friday, decided to form two supporting committees to the recently formulated independent panel of engineering advisers that was given the task of evaluating hillslope projects in the state.
“A supervisory committee will help in overseeing hillside development projects with the state Town and Country Planning Committee acting as the secretariat. The enforcement committee, on the other hand, will work under the Penang Municipal Council to ensure all rules are complied with,” Chow said.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Read between the lines: Hillslope developments to continue
Hill cutting in Batu Ferringi (photo by CKS)
Former Minister's lament in 2006, The Star 
Hill Cutting in Tanjong Bunga, Lembah Permai (photo by: CKS)
Compared to the Selangor Government's bold policy on hillslope developments, the Penang State Government still has a long way to go. Some time ago the previous government sent a State delegation to Hong Kong (it seems our present CM has taken the same route). Of course what they found out was the simple fact that our State government cannot do what the Hong Kong government is doing in slope maintenance and management.. we just simply do not have the resources. One would then conclude that as the government is unable to maintain and monitor slope conditions, then the obvious solution is not to allow hillslope development until we reach the level of economic development and the resources of the Hong Kong government.
One has to read between the lines of the following report to conclude that hillslopes development in Penang will continue even afer landslides in Paya Terubong and Batu Ferringi have occurred.
Penang forms panel to check hillside developments
By: by Bernard Cheah (Dec 09, 2008)
GEORGE TOWN (Dec 9, 2008): The Penang government has formed an independent panel of engineering advisers to monitor and evaluate the conditions of all hillslopes that are being developed.Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said yesterday the panel, headed by Institute of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) chairman Prof Dr Eric Goh, will review weekly geotechnical reports submitted by the developers for their projects.He said the move is necessary to ensure stringent steps are taken to avoid any landslides or disasters.“We would like to give confidence to residents living on the hills as well as those residing along the foothills.”There are eight development projects on hillslopes on the island and one in Seberang Perai.Among the developers on the island is Ivory Continental Sdn Bhd, whose project on the Batu Ferringhi hillslopes includes three condominium blocks of 28 storeys each, 15 units of four-storey country houses, six units of three-storey semi-detached houses and a three-storey clubhouse.The others include GLM Property Development Sdn Bhd (two blocks of 28-storey condominiums with carparks in Bandar Tanjung Bungah), DMV Sdn Bhd (37 units of three-storey bungalows on Jalan Batu Ferringhi), OJY Sdn Bhd (62 units of three-storey link houses on Jalan Batu Ferringhi), Ivory Meadows Sdn Bhd (a seven-storey block of luxury condominiums on Jalan Batu Ferringhi), Plenitude Heights Sdn Bhd (a 32-storey condominium block, 44 units of three-storey semi-detached homes and a seven-storey clubhouse in Bandar Batu Ferringhi) and Taman Ratu Development Sdn Bhd (45 units of three-storey terrace houses in Tanjung Bungah).“The state government has issued nine stop-work orders since coming to power in March,” Lim said.He said the Penang Island Municipal Council has been instructed to ensure seven key conditions are adhered to by the developers in their weekly reports.Goh said the panel would also make regular site inspections. --- end ---
--- Article Information ---
This article was emailed from Sun2Surf.
Article's URL: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=28318
Selangor Government Leads in capping Hillslope Development
Bitter vindication
by Elizabeth Wong
ONE of the earliest policy decisions by the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government was to throw out any housing and building applications for Class 3 and Class 4 hillslopes to preserve environmentally sensitive areas and prevent landslides. This was decided at an executive council meeting on April 2.
Selangor became the first state in the federation to have complied with the Federal Town and Country Planning Department’s Total Planning Guidelines 1997 (2nd edition, 2001) which states that no housing development should be allowed on slopes with 25° and above gradients.
Developers thought it was a late April Fool’s joke. Since our ban, they have used all means – the media, blogs, lobbying by state reps and MPs etc to change our minds. We were vilified as “anti-business” and “anti-development”. I have even had some of our Pakatan MPs asking us to make exceptions for Class 3 slopes.
I was told they particularly disliked me and called me “lan-si” (arrogant) just because during a public meeting of developers, NGOs, residents and the exco, one of the key developers questioned how the state government could stop hillslope development, and I answered, “Because we can…” And none were too happy when I had to repeatedly wave the Total Planning Guidelines book at them.
And every couple of months, we have had to repeat our policy decision. Even as recent as last month, developers were insisting that they had the right to develop hill slopes and some had told a couple of exco members that they were planning to sue us. One of them said we would have to compensate them RM330 million (25% of our state budget) for possible loss of profits. Imagine the pressure of a lobby group whose combined income and assets dwarfs the state government!
Saturday’s tragedy proves the correctness of the decision of the state government. But vindication which comes after the loss of four lives and more homes is unspeakably bitter. There are some 5,000 residents living in the vicinity of the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide who face uncertainty and may have to vacate their homes.
We ask that developers stop pursuing and pressuring us to review our policy, and instead thoroughly go through every single technicality of their existing hillslope projects.
While Ikram and the Public Works Department are responsible for pinpointing the cause of the tragedy, the state government will immediately review all approved hillslope projects by the previous administration, whether standing or partially built.
Those where there is no construction yet but approved before March 8 should not be allowed to proceed, especially along the same range of Bukit Antarabangsa and Hulu Kelang – which should include Taman Hijau and Bukit Melawati.
We had come too late. Many of the hillslope projects have been standing for a number of years, some were half completed when we came into power. Without proper maintenance of slopes and drainage on these private lands, tragedy will strike after many years, always after the period of indemnity is over. Those areas shown to be prone to landslides such as in Hulu Kelang, where the Public Works Department had flashed its red card in 2005, more stringent conditions will be imposed on existing projects.
All developers and private land owners have to protect and reinforce their own hillslopes if they want to continue to prosper, own property and do business in Selangor. We recently received complaints from Ampang, Kajang, Cheras and Pandan where private landowners and developers have neglected to protect hillslopes and there are already signs of wear and tear. Some have used plastic sheets and some said they were bankrupt and don’t have the funds to repair their slopes. Whatever. If they do not do the necessary, we will blacklist them.
We ask that “people” be put ahead of “profits”.
We are heartened that finally, after eight months of battling the housing industry, the federal government has come to our side to give Selangor, both the moral and policy support it needs, with both the prime minister and deputy prime minister calling for all hillslope development permits to be cancelled.
We can only hope the federal government doesn’t forget Dec 6, 2008 - like what had happened to Highland Towers (1993); Taman Hillview (2002) and Kg Pasir (2006) - which was less than a kilometre from Saturday’s landslide. Lest the lives lost would be in vain.
The writer is assemblywoman for Bukit Lanjan and state executive councillor in charge of the environment. Comment: letters@thesundaily.com
(Thanks to Andrew Aeria for the headsup)
by Elizabeth Wong
ONE of the earliest policy decisions by the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government was to throw out any housing and building applications for Class 3 and Class 4 hillslopes to preserve environmentally sensitive areas and prevent landslides. This was decided at an executive council meeting on April 2.
Selangor became the first state in the federation to have complied with the Federal Town and Country Planning Department’s Total Planning Guidelines 1997 (2nd edition, 2001) which states that no housing development should be allowed on slopes with 25° and above gradients.
Developers thought it was a late April Fool’s joke. Since our ban, they have used all means – the media, blogs, lobbying by state reps and MPs etc to change our minds. We were vilified as “anti-business” and “anti-development”. I have even had some of our Pakatan MPs asking us to make exceptions for Class 3 slopes.
I was told they particularly disliked me and called me “lan-si” (arrogant) just because during a public meeting of developers, NGOs, residents and the exco, one of the key developers questioned how the state government could stop hillslope development, and I answered, “Because we can…” And none were too happy when I had to repeatedly wave the Total Planning Guidelines book at them.
And every couple of months, we have had to repeat our policy decision. Even as recent as last month, developers were insisting that they had the right to develop hill slopes and some had told a couple of exco members that they were planning to sue us. One of them said we would have to compensate them RM330 million (25% of our state budget) for possible loss of profits. Imagine the pressure of a lobby group whose combined income and assets dwarfs the state government!
Saturday’s tragedy proves the correctness of the decision of the state government. But vindication which comes after the loss of four lives and more homes is unspeakably bitter. There are some 5,000 residents living in the vicinity of the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide who face uncertainty and may have to vacate their homes.
We ask that developers stop pursuing and pressuring us to review our policy, and instead thoroughly go through every single technicality of their existing hillslope projects.
While Ikram and the Public Works Department are responsible for pinpointing the cause of the tragedy, the state government will immediately review all approved hillslope projects by the previous administration, whether standing or partially built.
Those where there is no construction yet but approved before March 8 should not be allowed to proceed, especially along the same range of Bukit Antarabangsa and Hulu Kelang – which should include Taman Hijau and Bukit Melawati.
We had come too late. Many of the hillslope projects have been standing for a number of years, some were half completed when we came into power. Without proper maintenance of slopes and drainage on these private lands, tragedy will strike after many years, always after the period of indemnity is over. Those areas shown to be prone to landslides such as in Hulu Kelang, where the Public Works Department had flashed its red card in 2005, more stringent conditions will be imposed on existing projects.
All developers and private land owners have to protect and reinforce their own hillslopes if they want to continue to prosper, own property and do business in Selangor. We recently received complaints from Ampang, Kajang, Cheras and Pandan where private landowners and developers have neglected to protect hillslopes and there are already signs of wear and tear. Some have used plastic sheets and some said they were bankrupt and don’t have the funds to repair their slopes. Whatever. If they do not do the necessary, we will blacklist them.
We ask that “people” be put ahead of “profits”.
We are heartened that finally, after eight months of battling the housing industry, the federal government has come to our side to give Selangor, both the moral and policy support it needs, with both the prime minister and deputy prime minister calling for all hillslope development permits to be cancelled.
We can only hope the federal government doesn’t forget Dec 6, 2008 - like what had happened to Highland Towers (1993); Taman Hillview (2002) and Kg Pasir (2006) - which was less than a kilometre from Saturday’s landslide. Lest the lives lost would be in vain.
The writer is assemblywoman for Bukit Lanjan and state executive councillor in charge of the environment. Comment: letters@thesundaily.com
(Thanks to Andrew Aeria for the headsup)
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