A group of NGOs and concerned individuals are demanding that the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) ensure that those involved in the illegal clearing of Bukit Relau be hit with stiffer penalties, including jailing the company's directors.

NONE MPPP councillor Lim Mah Hui ( left ) who led the demand said the offender should be charged under the 1976 Town and Country Planning Act.

Section 26(1) of the Act allows for a maximum fine of RM500,000, two years imprisonment or both.

Section 52A of the Act states that the director, manager, secretary or other similar officers and the company can be held accountable for such acts.

"We further ask the MPPP and the state government to order all development activities on the land in question be stopped and no permission be granted retroactively for this project," he said, at a press conference today.

"Require the developer to restore the land to its original condition (by replanting)," he added.

"This company and all other companies associated with the directors of this company should be blacklisted for all future projects," he stressed.

Unhappy that top guns free

So far, 10 NGOs - Penang Forum, Penang Heritage Trust, Malaysian Nature Society, Penang Consumer Protection Associations, Chant Awareness and several residents associations including 23 individuals have endorsed the demand.

Accompanying the group was PKR's Batu Uban assemblyperson T Jayabalan, who together with Seri Delima assemblyperson RSN Rayer have been raising the issue since the hill in Bukit Relau, dubbed "Botak Hill" went noticeably bald.

The group resolved to send a delegation to meet with the MPPP and state government over the issue.

They were responding to the recent charging of General Accomplishment for RM30,000 for the illegal clearing of Bukit Relau, which the NGOs deemed "too soft".

The NGOs are unhappy as the the directors of the company, including former Penang Chinese Town Hall chairperson Tan Kok Ping, known to be friendly with the state government, have been left off.

The MPPP has also been criticised for allowing the rezoning of the hill for development, approved in 2007 by the previous BN government.

However, the MPPP and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng are appealing to the courts to impose a higher penalty on the company.