Don't give up greenery for development's sake
IPOH: Perakians are a lucky lot, I must say. Most of them, if not all, still can get up every morning to the sight of lush forest patches, surrounded by hills and clear cold mountain streams and rivers, not to mention the limestone caves.
Coming from Penang, Tanjung Bungah to be exact, which is fast turning into a concrete jungle, this is one of the things I marvelled at during my six months' stint here.
Many things had been written about the Pearl of the Orient of late, particularly the dying hills.
It is sad to see the beautiful island state, which I called home for the past 12 years, reduced to such a sorry state.
A reader, who wrote to an English daily in March, had this to say about Penang:
"Once a pearl that shone bright in the Andaman Sea, catching even the fancy of colonial-minded Francis Light, it is now a concrete jungle of the worst sort that haunts every environmentalist.
"To get an idea as to what sort of a nightmare this island of erstwhile natural beauty has become, all you need to do is to rent a car and attempt -- yes, "attempt" is the word -- to drive around.
"You will not fail to notice them, those high-rise condominiums that have sprung up like nasty weeds all over George Town and beyond in the past 10 years."
He also went on to say:
"Let me get concrete. Take a district I know well, Farlim.
"Twenty years ago this was a no man's land. It was considered the heart of darkness, underdeveloped and undesired.
"A good friend of mine moved there from the more populous Air Hitam, and we all thought he had moved out of the country, so remote it was.
"Today's Farlim is the island's beating heart, but it is dangerously clogged and faces, on a daily basis, some of the island's worst traffic congestions.
"For a major residential area that it is now (population 200,000), it is only accessible, rather puzzlingly, via two ancient two-lane roads -- one coming from Jalan Batu Lanchang (where there are three schools), and one from Jalan Air Hitam, which is, of course, another perennially congested affair as it leads to some of Penang's famous landmarks."
He concluded with:
"Why is the Pearl the way it is? Politicians blinded by self-interest. This may not be as heinous a crime as their inability or unwillingness to admit to having failed the very people who voted for them."
That is Penang for you, my dear readers.
I am wondering, just wondering, if the same fate will befall Perak, say 20 years from now.
After all, Perak is becoming an increasingly vibrant state and with a population of over two million people, it is one of the densely populated states in the country.
And with high density, comes much greater development, a fact which is unavoidable.
As my local friends put it, Perakians are not against any form of development but it must be stressed upon that development should not be carried out at the people's expense.
It should not be carried out at the expense of the future generation.
I am sure in 20 years time, Perakians will still want to get up every morning to the sight of lush forested areas and clear cold mountain streams, not to mention the limestone caves.
Our politicians must not be blinded by self-interest and sell Perak down the road of massive destruction.
Remember that Perak belongs to all Perakians.
All of you have the right to speak up when things don't go the way you want them to be.
Are you going to allow Perak to be turned into a concrete jungle in future? The answer is in your hands.
Read more: Don't give up greenery for development's sake - Northern - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/streets/northern/don-t-give-up-greenery-for-development-s-sake-1.98516#ixzz1ywtD2nsi
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