Currently, EIA [environmental impact assessment] consultants are chosen and funded by project proponents, which raises credibility concerns due to the vested interests of the parties. “For instance, Petaling Jaya City Council selects who gets to become a consultant from money in a pool. So there’s a wall between the project proponent and the consultants to avoid consultant shopping. – Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, then natural resources, environment and climate change minister, Malaysiakini (2023)
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said recently the parties involved in the Paya Terubong landslide must be held accountable as it took place on land owned by the developer.
Do the parties involved also include those on the government side, or only on the developer’s side?
Is the chief minister suggesting that the landowner alone is responsible for what happened on his land? Yet the parties involved could not cut the hill and carry out related work without government approval, could they?
All responsible agencies and departments have arrived at the site to investigate the cause. Among them could be the same bodies that approved the work in the first place and were meant to monitor it.
Will any of them look at their own acts and omissions that led to the landslide, which killed a doctor and damaged property? That seems unlikely, as few would wish to implicate themselves.
It is normal for government departments and agencies to defend their actions as though they are beyond question.
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But there appear to have been shortcomings. These may lie in vetting the environmental and traffic impact assessments and other studies by the developer’s consultants. They may also lie in monitoring ongoing work to ensure strict compliance with the conditions imposed on the developer.
If every process had been handled properly, the landslide should not have happened.
A close examination of the conduct of these departments and agencies is therefore necessary. It should be done by people with no connection to any of them.
Independent experts needed
Why are independent experts not being invited to investigate? They could include academics, retired academics in the relevant fields and NGOs that owe no obligation to the developer or to government bodies.
If ‘justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done’, then experts who put public interest above all else should also investigate the investigators.
Unless any acts and omissions behind the approval of risky development projects are uncovered and corrected, the public could keep paying a heavy price.
There have been far too many such incidents. The duty of care towards public safety is still not evident.
The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.
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