THE THIRD FORCE
A freak rainstorm that is wreaking havoc in Penang as we speak submerged some parts of the island state, specifically, areas around Balik Pulau, Japan Kepong (Relau), Han Chiang School, Jalan P. Ramlee and Jalan Tengah (Bayan Baru). When met, business operators along Jalan Tengah said they have never seen anything like this before.
Flood waters rising rapidly in Relau
A food stall operator next to Restoran Makbul Nasi Kandar told TTF that he has seen worse rainstorms on the island, none of which caused water levels to rise at such alarming rates.
“This isn’t about drains being clogged or anything. It’s something else entirely.”
When asked to elaborate, he cited ongoing projects in the greater Bayan Baru region as the culprit, telling TTF that measures were never taken by the state government to factor in the consequences of topographical changes.
TTF concurs.
The RM11 million yearly average spent by the Lim Guan Eng administration on flood mitigation is meagre compared to the billions it raked off developers who purchased massive terrains of state land to build luxury high-rises.
A similar project along Lengkok Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah, claimed the lives of a local Chinese and several foreign workers when a landslide struck the hillslope area. Instead of initiating a planned State Commission of Inquiry (SCI) into possible elements of corruption, Guan Eng has narrowed its jurisdiction to discovering the cause of the landslide.
TTF maintains that the Chief Minister is in cahoots with the developer to conceal many things, among them being the possibility of there being bodies of illegal foreign workers still buried beneath the landslide are (READ HERE).
MORE TO COME…
