We are certainly fighting a losing battle with the local municipal councils in Selangor which - when faced with easy money - are carelessly approving development projects that are clearly against public interest and federal government policies on the protection of the environment and natural resources.

I would not want to mention specific cases here apart from mentioning that the districts involved are Klang, Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, Cheras, Gombak and Ampang Jaya in particular.

Development orders are given to construct houses in areas originally designated as green lungs, public recreational areas, water catchments areas, forest reserves, mosques and unstable hillside terrains.

Approvals are also mysteriously given for accelerated development. Infrastructure projects take place in record time and in some places construction is done on almost at 24-hour basis.

When met with public protests, the local councils officials give either vague or evasive answers whilst some dare to be rhetorical. When investigations are made into these complaints, they distance themselves from the decision-making process.

At the federal level, we were once told that a bill would be tabled in the Parliament so that some of these development projects, especially those involving forest reserves and hillsides, would first have to be approved by the appropriate federal ministry.

This proposal, however, seems to have 'cooled down' and is now probably forgotten as we members of the public did not pursue it on a persistent basis to get it materialised.

All these wanton cases of destructive development demonstrate the power of money and how entrenched corruption is among government officials in a state that is bustling with development such as Selangor.

Indeed, Selangor Menteri Besar Mohd Khir Toyo himself is now forced to become an almost full-time senior public relations officer cum damage control man for his state in order to protect its image and credibility against the onslaught of rampant graft.

With such a situation remaining unchanged, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his pious sermons have become an advertisement without a product, a promise without a hope, a tunnel without any light at the end.