I refer to the Malaysiakini report Don’t destroy Bukit Larut .

As a thoroughbred Taipingnian, I am disappointed with the stand taken by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca with regards to the cable-car project.

It is a known fact that though Taiping has achieved many ‘firsts’ in our country, more than thirty to be more precise, it is one of the most overlooked and neglected town. So much so, it is ironically being referred to today as a ‘sleepy hollow’ or a ‘pensioners’ paradise’.

Many of us wonder why Taiping has been neglected in so many ways when it could have been developed as a prime educational hub for the nation.

Where was Fomca when Taiping’s forest with its colourful flora and fauna right in front of the main entrance to the Taiping Zoo and at the foothills of Bukit Larut were virtually ‘raped’ and desecrated with the building of three schools?

Any other sensible government would have gone all out to preserve the greenery and locate the schools elsewhere. Any local authority worth its salt would have vehemently opposed the projects as they would definitely destroy the beauty and greenery there.

Sad to say, there was not even a whimper from Fomca then but it is now flexing its muscles claiming that a cable-car project will destroy the flora and fauna of Bukit Larut.

The damage done by the building of the aforesaid schools cannot be put into words. Till today, we Taipingnians cannot accept this callous move.

As for the cable-car project, the statistical data in terms of perimetres and area given by Fomca are sheer drivel and the alleged impact of the project on the ecosystem of Bukit Larut is akin to be making a mountain of a molehill.

I would be very happy - as many other Taipingnians would be - if Taiping regains its former glory. For that, there has to be development. It is worth noting that for such a historical town, there is not even a proper sports complex let alone a proper stadium.

I do hope the Perak government will go ahead with the cable-car project with the necessary precautions for the ecosystem and help make Taiping greater than before.

And to you Fomca, you have other trees to bark up at such as the impending LCCT at Labu, hillside developments in the Klang Valley and the declining space for children’s playgrounds and recreational facilities in both urban and rural areas.

So Fomca, please leave our beloved Taiping alone as there can never be a yardstick to measure Taipingnians’ love and care for this lovely, historical and yet paradoxically the most neglected town. Period .