COMMENT In my article on Sunday , I mentioned that some state governments need to do more, beyond just the paperwork, when they approve development projects and logging concessions.

The lack of transparency has indeed raised a lot of doubts about the way these state administrators have approved certain projects, without looking at other important aspects such as the impact on the traffic, health and safety of the locals, and the degradation to the environment.

When these activities affect the ecology and the people’s livelihood, development has to be re-looked from the perspective of sustainability, and state governments are not spared when it comes to getting the brickbats from the people.

Even good corporate citizens know how to take care of the environment; only pirates will not care about the consequences of how they operate their businesses.

Spotlight on Perak and Pahang

The spotlight has been turned on two states recently - Perak and Pahang - where exploitation of Mother Nature has gone to the extreme at the expense of the people.

My focus has been on Perak recently, where various issues such as the ongoing indiscriminate land clearing in Tambun, damage which has already been done to the Matang mangrove land in Kuala Sepetang and issuance of a logging concession in Lawin, have been and will continue to be highlighted.

In all three cases, the state is obviously involved, which makes it perfectly legitimate for the parties concerned to inflict damage on the environment unabated despite numerous complaints.

In his speech at the state legislative assembly recently, Perak Menteri Besar Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir is apparently hiding behind some non-disclosure clauses, which a state government should not have signed in the first place if it had the people’s interest in mind.

In Pahang, Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh ( photo ) has been highlighting the plight of the people who are badly affected by the bauxite mining in the area. Because the local state assemblyperson is not doing much about it, Fuziah is pushing hard and making four demands from the state government, which include suspension, regulation, enforcement and rehabilitation.

Although, even as outsiders, we can see how horrific are the happenings in Kuantan, the state has turned a deaf ear to both Fuziah and even a federal minister.

Nothing to do with politics

Fuziah had no choice but to bring it to Parliament recently, but she was immediately shot down by the Dewan Rakyat speaker and heckled by other elected representatives from Barisan Nasional.

From the ordinary person’s point of view, this has nothing to do with politics but the health and general well-being of the people in Pahang, and a state government that is apparently losing interest in the people’s welfare.

On Dec 4, after Fuziah rocked Parliament with the complaints from the people, National Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had met Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob to negotiate a moratorium on bauxite activities. Despite the involvement of Wan Junaidi, the meeting failed to produce any results .

In the case of Tambun, efforts have been made to contact both Tambun MP Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah and Hulu Kinta assemblyperson Aminuddin Mohd Hanafiah.

While Husni is making attempts to speak to Zambry once an official letter is received, Aminuddin is understandably facing difficulties to confront his boss at the state level. The use of the state whip is enough to ensure that all state assemblypersons align themselves with any state decision.

This is where a good check-and-balance measure has failed to ensure accountability at the top level. It is a good question to ask: to what extent can Husni, as Tambun MP and a caring MP, achieve by raising the people’s complaints to the menteri besar?

Lack of accountability at state level

The menteri besar is the chief executive of the state administration and he has power over a number of areas, including land, which can be worth billions of ringgit. This is why in Perak, the DAP whip Ngeh Koo Ham has recently crossed swords with Zambry over some 10,000ha of land in seven districts, which he claimed had been approved by the state government.

Menteris besar and chief ministers are accountable to no one except the sultan, the raja or the governor as head of the state, and indirectly to the president of the party who appointed him to the position. This is where Zambry could declare openly that the accounts of Perak Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBInc) would not be tabled.

However, at times, even the sultan’s advice is being ignored. Years ago, the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj had complained that his menteri besar had allegedly sold away land in Selangor to an extent that became a great concern to him.

In the case of Pahang and Perak, it is the sitting prime minister who picks the candidate as menteri besar and if anything, they are currently answerable to Najib Abdul Razak.

But, if Najib himself is already in the thick of a major scandal involving the 1MDB issue, especially in the way he handled the scandal, how would he have the moral integrity to deal with the leaders at the state level?

This is why most people agree that, in order for Malaysia to move forward, the entire political landscape has to change, unless Najib comes to his senses to rein in the state leaders.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.