After the limestone hills tragedy, will the Perak MB finally listen?

 

It took a landslide to hit a luxury resort in Tambun, burying two people alive, before the Perak menteri besar would finally listen to the people who previously complained about the destruction of our limestone hills.

For decades, Perakians, especially those who live in the Kinta Valley, voiced their concerns to the state authorities about the damage done. Did anyone listen? No!

Their concerns were dismissed and developers threatened lawsuits. It took a tragedy at a five-star resort and the potential damage to tourism, to make the MB react.

Successive MBs were motivated by the developers, who made money from quarrying and construction of various buildings located close to the magnificent limestone hills.

One would have thought that the Perak state government would learn from the mistakes of the Highland Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Penang Hill tragedies, and landslides in Selangor, but they stubbornly ignored the people’s concerns and common sense.

The people who live in houses at the foot of the Kledang hills, near Menglembu, feared that heavy rain would cause landslides, especially as the slopes had been cleared of vegetation, but their complaints were ignored.

In other areas, people complained about dust and the noise pollution (explosions) when the limestone formations were blown-up. They also felt the loss to the aesthetic beauty of Ipoh. After all, the reason many people visit Ipoh, is not just for the food, but for the beauty of the hills, which is reminiscent of the Guilin karst formations of China or Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.

The menteri besar, Ahmad Faizal Azumu, said: “According to the State Mineral and Geoscience Department (JMG), the limestone hill at the place of the incident has vertical cliffs with cracks and layered plane. This causes the limestone hill to have the potential to experience landslides or rock falls. It is a geological phenomenon that cannot be predicted.”

He is wrong. These landslides can be predicted. They are inevitable.

The MB warned of more landslides. If only he had listened earlier, because this is what we have been trying to advise the MB’s office for several decades. The main cause is greed.

Ahmad Faizal said that the resort management had obtained the necessary approvals from all the relevant departments, and established buffer zones, before developing the area 20 years ago.

If anecdotal evidence is to be believed, unscrupulous developers have powerful political friends who can approve developments which the state’s own developers, engineers, planners and architects would have rejected.

Few Malaysians have faith in these so-called approvals. If tragedy strikes, will people blame the planners? Will the planners claim that they were ordered by their political masters to approve the projects?

Ipoh is the only city surrounded by beautiful limestone hills, which provide a dramatic backdrop to many suburbs. The caves in many parts of the hills have been turned into temples. Some have prehistoric drawings. All are tourist attractions.

One Ipoh-ite said, “Our hills are blasted to smithereens for pittance by cement companies. Look at the number of hills that stick out like rotten teeth around Ipoh. “The state government probably depends too much on the hills for revenue and is happy to pawn our natural heritage, instead of keeping it for future generations. The hills are worth more left intact than blasted; but quarrying is easy money.”

He said that another problem is the visual vandalisation which Ipoh City Council has allowed. “How do skyscrapers next to the hills fit in with the environment?

“If this continues our hills will be blotted from view – only those who have the money to live in these luxurious condominiums can have a view.

“Our hills belong to the public. They are not the private preserve of the rich.”

Our hills can be turned into assets which will benefit the city and its inhabitants. If Ahmad Faizal is truly concerned, he should order a moratorium on development near the hills and prohibit high-rise property projects by the hills.

We could have a nature reserve of at least half a mile around the hills which could be turned into parkland and a botanical garden. These can be both a tourist attraction and a recreational site for Ipoh-ites.

We need a holistic approach to the development of Ipoh’s hills. People with the experience, the exposure and the imagination should be engaged.

Tourism will provide more long-term prosperity than the cement companies which leave us with a pile of rubble and layers of dust. Ipoh-ites have long known about the dangers of overdeveloping the hills. It is time for the MB to wake up. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect that of MMKtT.