MUSA: I WANT SABAH TO BE DEVELOPED BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF SAFETY

KOTA KINABALU, July 1, 2009: Thoughtless approval of development plans must stop.

The approving bodies must place public safety on the top of their considerations when deciding on any project.

Making these points yesterday, Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman said there was a tendency among some developers “to build anything, anywhere, as long as they think they can make money”.

“Even to the extent of wanting to build on Mount Kinabalu, our World Heritage site,” he said when opening a seminar on landslides and slope safety here.

“Therefore, local authorities must not approve anything blindly. They also need to ensure that the conditions of approval for any project are strictly adhered to.”

The one-day seminar, attended by some 90 engineers, was organised by the Public Works Department slope safety division.

Musa said Sabah, with its mountainous terrain, was prone to slope and landslide problems.

The latest incident saw tonnes of mud washed into a Muslim cemetary in the east coast Sandakan district and affecting a nearby block of apartments.

Musa said local authority’s care in approving projects should not be misconstrued as the state government being anti-development.

“I want Sabah to be developed, but this must never be at the expense of the people’s safety,” he added.

Sabah Public Works Department director John Anthony said nearly RM1bil was required to repair 517 slope failures along major trunk roads in the state.

“The areas that are especially prone are the interior districts of Ranau and Tambunan as well as Luyang, Kampung Kopungit and Signal Hill in Kota Kinabalu,” he said in his speech read out by his deputy Amrullah Kamal.