YOURSAY | 'Yet another slipshod work by local contractors. And poor foreign workers pay with their lives.'

All bodies from Tanjung Bungah landslide recovered

Anonymous #13571680: This is very sad – innocent lives are lost. Something must be seriously wrong when one incident after another keeps happening.

I really dread for the future with the world’s largest water slide and massive transport projects on the way. There seems to be no accountability whatsoever.

Truthseeker: Yet another slipshod work by local contractors. And the poor foreign workers pay with their lives.

Lionking: Just too many landslides, and the sad thing is that the poor labourers are killed while the politicians sit in their lofty chairs and do nothing about it.

All they will do is to come out with “we are looking into it” or “we will take action” or statements to make the public fools.

Shovelnose: Something is not quite right with the reasoning given by George Town OCPD Che Zaimani Che Awang.

A 2.4m retaining wall is quite substantial and although within private property boundaries, it does not require a building permit?

This question should have been answered by the local building authority, not by the police.

Anonymous 2354931441238481: Where are the city laws stipulating that no permits are required to do the work?

Are we a Third World country, where you can build as you like with no safety precautions, using inexperienced labour and with no plans submitted to the authorities for approval?

It’s shocking. I thought this occurred under the previous regime but it looks like not much has changed.

Clear Thinking: Local authorities ought to be elected periodically by the people living in the locality to ensure transparency. The local people are the best guardians of themselves.

Prior to 1965, we had elected local councils. After that, we have corrupted local councils.

Town planners are ignored. Building laws are bent now and then. Space even in the middle of public roads is rented out. They close and open roads within the city at will.

Power is gloriously abused.

BA Baracus: The rush to develop at all costs must stop. The state politicians must stop kowtowing to development and accepting bribes so that they can compromise on safety.

There are many lives lost on this island of landslides.

Penang gov't appears 'immune' to landslides, says PSM

Ming: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader S Arutchelvan, please read and understand the situation of this landslide.

It was done without approval by authorities. The retaining wall’s construction wasn’t designed by professional engineers and the work was carried out by individuals as stated. Don’t bark just because you need to bark.

Honma: It’s easy to be an armchair critic with no solutions. I hope Arul will one day be in the government and we would like to see what he can contribute to preventing landslides.

Landslides do not happen in Penang only but mostly in all highlands area due to the inclement weather.

Similarly, like floods, we can only do to a certain level in prevention but it is impossible to eliminate it completely due to mother nature.

Anonymous 2439891477538802: God forbid that the Penang state government is over-friendly towards the big-time developers and property investors to the extent that they are treated leniently every time there is landslide related to property construction.

It is clear over the tenure of this state government that landslides happen because of some non-conformance with the by-laws by the developers' contractors or the negligence of professional consultants.

If this is not the case, why so many incidents of landslides? Surely, it is not reasonable to blame most of these disasters on force majeure.

Most Penangites feel the state government should buck up or be responsible for the effects of landslides which are emblematic of the slippage in standards of enforcement of rules governing property development and its related construction activities.

Newday: PSM, while I agree that the plight of foreign workers is terrible, you cannot lay the blame for this on the Penang government.

It is quite clear that this is not a property development as it is a job being done within the private property boundaries of an existing development that has been there for many years. The government cannot have eyes everywhere.

If someone decides to erect a retaining wall, within private property and doesn't submit plans or notify the local council, then how will they know? The blame is fairly and squarely with the owner/operator of this facility.

May the full force of the law come down on him and the local contractor who was authorised to the work, for these avoidable deaths.

This is another case of death to foreign workers that could have been avoided with proper planning and foresight. Foreign workers are just seen as commodities that can be replaced, almost as if they are not human.

I have worked in the construction industry for many years. On one occasion, a foreign worker was badly injured and the response from the contractor was that it is was just a Bangladeshi.

There lies the rub - no value is being placed on their lives.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.