balance of conflicting interest

Marion Olsen

Part of an excellent article trying to balance conflicting interests.

"Town planning must take into account the use of land space, the natural and cultural environment, the community needs, the amount of walkways and streets, the fields and trees, the movement of people, the types of buildings; do they blend or clash with the environment?1 It cannot be just about putting up more bricks and mortar.
Let me quote a definition of town planning as the "ordering of building and land use according to a visually pleasing but practical scheme for the economy, and achieving convenience and beauty by ensuring accessibility and managing resource use while avoiding land use conflict."2
Finally I would like to put forward a proposal for consideration. We know that traffic impact studies for big construction projects have not been effective. One reason is because consultants are hired by developers. I suggest that developers pay to a pool to be managed by the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) to hire its own independent consultants. This will reduce any element of conflict of interests. It will also enable a more integrated approach to traffic impact studies beyond single projects".

This article is an extract of a speech made to the full council meeting of MPPP on August 26, 2011.

Lim Mah Hui is an MPPP city councillor representing many of Penang's NGOs. He was previously an international banker and academician, and the author of Nowhere to Hide: The Great Financial Crisis and Challenges for Asia.

 ·  ·  · Yesterday at 21:09

• Andrewong Wkit likes this.
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    Lim Cheok Siang Jimmy Lim Mah Hui who was present at the first meeting of The Citizens Awareness Chant Group meeting will be in the best position to confirm if any of the issues raised and discussed last Wednesday night was political or using illegal destruction activities on a construction site near a Buddhist temple to attack the PR Penang State Govt.on Buddhist religion

    16 hours ago · 
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    Lim Cheok Siang Jimmy Mr CM why are you treating us normal citizens like we are your political opponents?? We are not religious or political. My personal concern is primarily for the protection of the natural environment and preservation of our man-made heritage. Your officers in MPPP are very familiar with my position on this issue. I have challenged them on may occasions with respect to trying to save a single tree. The rest is history..........the trees are gone. You want to see where the trees used to live????

    16 hours ago · 
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    Lim Cheok Siang Jimmy Mr CM, You are a smart man and we respect you in more ways than you realise.............your swiping us off as you would flies sent by BN to harass you is totally unjustified and in bad taste. We are only concerned about the future generations. We like to leave a little family heirloom (keh hoay) for our children and their children. You are a father.....so am I. Are you btw a grandfather? Would it be wrong for me to say that I like my children and their children to be able to inherit some of the Penang that I grew up in, because my previous generations kept them for me? Would you also not want that for your children? I grew up seeing the beautiful river next to a restaurant called Chooi Lin Koo, it was so peaceful and the rocks were amazingly beautiful. In my young mind then, there were many fishes to be caught and also large snakes to frighten us. So if this river for some forsaken reason is being destroyed now when I am an old man and I comment on its destruction, I am labelled a BN supporter using this desecration of nature's gift, as an attack on PR led Govt in Penang? How does an intelligent man like you draw such a conclusion? Surely you must know how to differentiate between politics and concerned citizens views on things. I do not have any hidden agenda. Sir not everything in LIFE is politics.........there is more to LIFE than politics. You should ponder on the quality of LIFE and environment and developers who generally do not give life to a place..........they also practice CAT.

    16 hours ago ·  ·  5 people