Parliament: State Governments Should Follow SOP To Avoid Man-Made Disasters - Noh
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 (Bernama) -- State governments and the local authorities must ensure that all development projects follow the guidelines set to avoid untoward incidents like the recent landslide in Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah, Penang, which took 11 lives.
Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, Tan Sri Noh Omar said although the federal government through the Town and Country Planning Department (JPBD) had issued suitable guidelines in 2009, it did not have the power to force the state governments to follow these guidelines due to the different power of jurisdiction as outlined in Schedule Nine of the Federal Constitution.
"There are states which modify (the guidelines) according to their own situations, for example, Penang, which has its own version. Whatever it is, we hope that states could follow the guidelines we have set.
"This is because, we (federal government) can only persuade for our guidelines to be considered for compliance by them. But ultimately, with regard to implementation, if the states do their own way, we cannot blame the federal government if anything untoward happens," he said in his winding-up speech on the Supply Bill 2018 at the policy level for his ministry in the Dewan Rakyat, here, today.
Noh was responding to Datuk Seri Dr Irmohizam Ibrahim (BN-Kuala Selangor) who asked for his views on the attitude of certain quarters that blamed the federal government for the tragic landslide incident at Lengkok Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah.
Noh said PLANMalaysia had sounded its objection to the project twice, namely at the State Technical Planning Committee meeting chaired by state Housing Committee chairman, Jagdeep Singh Deo and at the State Planning Committee meeting chaired by Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng.
"At the two meetings, the JPBD as the technical side, did not support (the project) as the application was made to raise the residential density of the area from 30 to 147 units per acre.
"We proposed that if increased, it should not be up to 147 units, but to follow the standard set, that is, a maximum of 120 units per acre. This is in line with the medium-cost housing guidelines issued by JPBD," he said.
On the RM2.2 billion allocated in the 2018 Budget to build and maintain affordable homes including the People's Housing Projects (PPR), Noh said the ministry was in the process of identifying suitable sites and hoped that the state governments, especially Selangor and Penang, could approve the plots of land identified.
"For the PPR alone, next year, if based on the budget announced, we will build 17,300 units of PPR homes across the country.
"Therefore, we're asking for cooperation from all the state governments, not just in providing the sites but also in the plan approval process. So, we're appealing for the PPR building process be expedited," he added.
-- BERNAMA
