COMMENT In my article on Sunday , I mentioned that some state governments need to do more, beyond just the paperwork, when they approve development projects and logging concessions.

The lack of transparency has indeed raised a lot of doubts about the way these state administrators have approved certain projects, without looking at other important aspects such as the impact on the traffic, health and safety of the locals, and the degradation to the environment.

When these activities affect the ecology and the people’s livelihood, development has to be re-looked from the perspective of sustainability, and state governments are not spared when it comes to getting the brickbats from the people.