THE Penang government looks set to write new laws that will allow the state to come down hard on errant developers and contractors that fail to follow regulations on soil erosion and sedimentation controls, said state public works, utilities and flood mitigation exco Zairil Khir Johari.

The Star Online had today reported that not a single developer in the state had adhered to soil erosion mitigation plans submitted with their application for project approvals.

The report quoted sources saying that the state government had launched Ops Lumpur after the May 9 general election to ensure inspections and enforcement were conducted by the local councils at the project sites.

“We do have a task force called Ops Lumpur, which conducts spot checks. Typically, we find that many contractors do not comply with their erosion and sedimentation control plans,” said Zairil.

“Among the actions that can be taken is to stop work until they comply. However, I think we need to beef up our powers on this. We don’t have enough bite,” he said.

The Tanjung Bungah state assemblyman said Penang planned to take a leaf from Selangor, which has powers to fine errant developers and contractors up to RM250,000 for non-compliance.

“We really need to sharpen our teeth with heavier penalties. I think following Selangor is good,” said Zairil.

However, should such new by-laws be gazetted, they still cannot be applied retrospectively, he said.

Penang was hit by another fatal landslide yesterday that killed several foreign labourers at a road construction site in Paya Terubong.

The incident occurred almost exactly a year after a landslide at a condominium construction site in Tanjung Bungah killed 11 workers, including a Malaysian site supervisor.

Following yesterday’s incident, Penang’s civil society had urged the state government to halt all infrastructure projects on hill slopes.

The state government is proposing the development of several new highways under the Penang Transport Master Plan, including those that will pass through hills like the North Coast Pair Road in Tanjung Bungah and Teluk Bahang, and the Pan Island Link 1 that will also have tunnels through hills. – October 20, 2018.