Of sense and sensibilities

The New Straits Times editorial today carried this.

"LET's not blame Mother Nature," says Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed. Let's not blame the engineers either, says Institution of Engineers president Datuk Keizrul Abdullah.
Don't blame us, says the present state government. Nor us, says its predecessor.

Indeed, let's not blame anyone or anything for now. Let's wait for the Public Works Department's report on the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide, its diagnosis of the problems and its recommendations for solutions.

It will take about three months for the report to be completed -- a time frame that extends through next month's parliamentary by-election in Kuala Terengganu to a deadline coincident with the Umno general assembly at which national administrations are expected to change.

With at least a dozen government agencies and statutory bodies among the pantheon of authorities involved in matters arising from the landslide disaster, expect delays of handover to follow this period of transition. But this also happens to be a timeframe spanning the wettest months of the year.

While three hillslope development projects have been stopped in the Klang Valley -- in Medan Damansara, Bukit Ceylon and Bukit Gasing -- civil-society protests have emerged against slope development in Penang and Perak as well, indicating the nationwide alarm over such activities.
The conduct of such public protests has matured in the past year. Anger is all too easy to whip up in the present climate, but in the controversies arising from the Bukit Antarabangsa disaster, the outrage is laced with genuine fear among those living on or around suspect hillsides.

Obviously, those spearheading these residents' protests will need to keep stoking these emotions to fuel their campaign for action to be taken to lessen their anger and fear.But abruptly halting all engineering works on hillslopes is not the answer, as Keizrul has warned. The slopes are left unfinished and bare to the elements. In fact, one of the weak spots that may have precipitated the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide is thought to have been an abandoned project upslope.

What affected residents need to see is work continuing on these sites, therefore -- not to continue building upon them, but to stabilise them. Such work can and should be instituted immediately, given the present weather conditions. Let the blame fall where it may, upon completion of these exhaustive studies and detailed reports, along with the consequent judicial process of suits, counter-suits and appeals.

Developers, engineers, authorities and residents should find it easier to agree to fix the problems first, then seek justice. "

Well, OK, the editorial was quite reasonable and objective but how would the writer feel if he or she and the family were to stay right beside the hillslope?

I think the writer should also comment on the need for financial institutions to review their policies with regard to financing hillside projects.

We need the banking sector to be on the same page with consumers and uphold their corportate social responsibility, good governance and practices if developers on hillside projects come a calling.

The writer should also appeal to the good sense of professionals, especially engineering consultants and lawyers and whether they should distance themselves from rogue developers. We are not talking only about the present but for our future generation.

It is also a question of ethics, although I believe it is a foreign word for many Malaysians.

To me it is indeed puzzling that professionals who are highly critical of the Government become a party to some of these misdeeds! They are right but the rest of the world is wrong but when it is in their interest, they protect their turf like hell.

Let's not talk about stabilising the hills. But let's talk about stabilising our lives!