Penang gov't appears 'immune' to landslides, says PSM

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) took the Penang state government to task for the repeated occurrences of landslides in the state.

In a statement today, PSM central committee member S Arutchelvan rebuked the state administration for failing to take action against errant developers.

He said the state government seems to have been "immunized" by landslides and deaths caused by such tragedies.

"Just another landslide. Just some foreign workers died. No big deal. What is important is to make developers happy.

"Moratorium is bad for the economy. The Penang government will say that it will investigate, maybe even open a white paper on it. State government will compensate those who died.

"Many NGOs have warned. Many times the same issues have been raised and yet it is, maybe, yet another act of God. No developer will be arrested and nobody will take responsibility. Till the next landslide. Till the next death," Arutchelvan said.

The statement was released this morning as the authorities had just found the bodies of four foreign workers killed in a landslide in Tanjung Bungah, Penang.

In his press statement, Arutchelvan also listed 10 landslide disasters in the state between 2016 and yesterday, including one that occurred in George Town on Oct 18 last year, killing nine construction workers.