State govt urged to explain clearing activities in Bkt Laksamana

BALIK PULAU: A Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) backbencher has urged the state government to come clean over earthworks and land clearing activities in Bukit Laksamana which is within his constituency.

Teluk Bahang assemblyman Datuk Shah Headan Ayoob Hussain Shah said he estimated some 3.2ha of the hill has been cleared.

He said the hill is a water catchment area which should be preserved, stressing that he was not being political about the issue.

“The state government has to explain what is going on,” he said in a press conference after leading a media team to the site today.

There were no signboards to show who was responsible for the earthworks nor what the clearing was for.

Meanwhile, Kampung Sungai Pinang villager Mohd Nasri Ismail, 35, said he was shocked at the extent of the clearing.

He said he used to cycle around the area when he was younger and lamented he could not do so now if such works continued.

“I am worried about the environmental impact,” he said, while another villager, Hussin Yusop, 58, expressed similar sentiments and urged the forest at the hill to be preserved for the future.

When contacted by theSun, Penang Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the Penang Island City Council was conducting checks with the results to be known soon.