Saturday, September 19, 2009

Political one-upmanship is mentally & environmentally ruinous!

Update on the Road to Nowhere in Pertak Village (from Ecowarrioz.blogspot.com)...

MOUNTAINS OUT OF MOLEHILLS

By Mary Maguire

Even though district councilor Chua Yee Ling and some Majlis Daerah Hulu Selangor enforcement officers ordered the road project stopped two days ago, Mr. Tan's workers were still going flat out today. I’m glad they didn’t just walk off the site. At least they’ve put down several layers of stone chips, otherwise the whole place would be awash with mud as it’s been raining a lot this week.

Some people may think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill about the illegal road in Kg. Pertak, but the reason I am making a fuss about it is because the road is being constructed with no regard for the environment. I’m not opposed to the road per se, in fact as far as I’m concerned, it’s Orang Asli land so it’s their decision and if someone wants to build them a road I say, why not? so long as you do it properly.

The problem of course is that it’s turned into a game of political one-upmanship with the Selangor state government left in the unenviable position of having to put a halt to the project (because strictly speaking it’s illegal) and at the same time alienate the Orang Asli big time. After all, who do you think they’ll vote for at the next election, the ones who offered them the road or the ones who stopped it?

[READ THE REST HERE!]