GEORGE TOWN: As the city celebrates its fourth anniversary as a Unesco World Heritage Site, Penangites are lamenting the continual loss of their natural heritage the state's lush, green hills.
As the streets came alive yesterday to mark the proud inscription of George Town's unique history and culture, the island's landscape continues to change drastically with rapid development encroaching into the hills and the coastline.
From an aerial view, “bald” spots are evident on what used to be the island's crowning glory such as Tanjung Bungah, Sungai Ara, Paya Terubong, Relau and Bukit Gambier.
Going downhill: A high-rise condominium project has cut a path into the Mount Erskine hill.
From these bare patches, mega housing projects and high-rise developments are emerging, much to the ire of residents who claim that the existing green lungs in the state are quickly going extinct.
Penang Water Watch president Prof Dr Chan Ngai Weng warned of the negative effects of rampant hill land development and deforestation, saying that these could destroy precious water catchment areas, cause soil erosion, landslides, mudslides, downstream flooding, sediment pollution of rivers and climate change.
Penang, he pointed out, was hotter now compared to two decades ago. “This is especially so in George Town.
Threatened: A ‘bald’ spot in Bukit Gambier where a high-rise condominium project is set to emerge.
“We are now an urban heat island',” said the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Humanities lecturer.
He cautioned that things could get worse.
Rainfall, he said, was reduced now that there were fewer trees for evapotranspiration (a term describing the transport of water into the atmosphere from surfaces).
Anywhere, everywhere: Paya Terubong on the east of Penang island is also not spared of hillslope development and (below) such development seeping into the hills has become a norm in Penang.
Penang Heritage Trust president Khoo Salma Nasution said the hills were sacrosanct.
“They are our green lung, forest reserve, water reserve and a historic backdrop of a bustling city at the edge of the sea.
“Our eco-system is incredibly fragile and to develop high-rise and high density buildings on hillslopes is to set the stage for a system breakdown and ecological disaster,” she said. - The Star
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