I wish to salute Dr Lim Mah Hui for presenting an excellent speech in the MPPP full council meeting.
Dr Lim's proposal of Council engaging independent consultants, through a common pool of funding, to conduct appraisal reports on environmental impact etc is a good idea. It will get rid of the problems of developers collaborating with his consultants in putting up one sided reports which may be in favour of the developers.
Touching on PGCC (Penang Global City Centre at Turf Club's land) issue, people might still remember that there were huge protests by residents, noticeably RA of Jetselton (RAJ) in objection to the proposed mixed development. At that time, the proposed development density for the high rise buildings were based on thirty seven (37) units per acre. RAJ, headed by a renowned architect , made a model showing multi skyscrapers to highlight the high density problems. It was very impressive indeed. But little did we realise that the present housing policies of MPPP which allows high density development ( increased from 30 units per acre to 87 units and 120 units per acre) throughout Penang island means that the "PGCC' effect will be spilt over to the whole Penang island. The effect will be more devastating as the density is about three (3) times ( 120 units compare with 37 units per acre) higher. Are we willing to accept that PGCC be built all over Penang island? Or is it the beginning of a new era of enless protests by residents all over Penang island in relation to the incredibly high density of development in their neighbourhood ? I shall be grateful if Dr Lim Mah Hui will take up this very important issue and remedy the situation before permanent damage i s done to our beautiful island.
Municipal Councillors are the decision makers in MPPP. They ought to understand the people's aspirations and problems. They ought to make decisions that will ensure a healthy, peaceful and harmonious living environment for the residents. Unfortunately, In MPPP we seem to have only one Councillor whom we can rely upon to discharge the entrusted duties. The performance of the rest of the councillors, to say the least , seem to be far from satisfactory....
Can Dr Lim Mah Hui move the horrendous mountain unilaterally ? What option do the residents have then ?
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