Jimmy Leow

Citizen Journalist Jimmy Leow’s follow up on the Abandoned Highway at Teluk Kumbar, Penang. A new contractor has been appointed by JKR and the new completion date of this highway is Nov 2010.

Jimmy Leow went to the site to observe the work in progress.

http://www.malaysiakini.tv/video/17423.html

Video by Jimmy Leow Beng Hock, Citizen Journalist

A video produced by me caught the attention of JKR and the state government over the long delay of this highway which is supposed to be completed in Nov 2008. Click below to watch the video.

http://www.malaysiakini.tv/video/17211/abandoned-highway-scars-balik-pulau.html

By now, motorists are supposed to be zipping about on the spanking new highway spanning from Teluk Kumbar to Pekan Genting in Balik Pulau, Penang.

Unfortunately, the brakes have been hit on the project and a video taken by citizen journalist Jimmy Leow last month revealed the sorry state of affairs.

The structure now stands in disjointed, unfinished sections.

A signboard states that it is a Barisan Nasional project, contracted to private firm Bulkers Corporation Sdn Bhd.

It was also stated that the highway would be completed on Sept 3, 2008. However in March that year, voters had shown BN the exit from the island state.

Apart from being an eyesore, the uncompleted project – which is sited next to a busy road – posed a safety risk for motorists.

Readers of journalist Anil Netto’s blog commented that the project has been abandoned for more than two years and it was estimated that the government allocated RM58 million for it.

Citizen journalist and blogger Chan Lilian responded on the blog that several citizen journalists (including her and Leow) has met PKR’s Balik Pulau MP Mohd Yusmadi to discuss the matter.

However, the issue – just like the highway – remained unresolved.

See the response from JKR after this article was published in Malaysiakini.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/107793

Story by Emily Chow, Malaysiakini

A group CJ from Penang made a field trip to Balik Pulau, Penang for some video making experiment and found themselves riveted to an issue which was troubling some fishermen around Pulau Bedong not far from Balik Pulau town. Click below to watch the video.

http://www.malaysiakini.tv/video/17008/angry-fishermen-in-penang.html

Large fishing vessels are posing a threat to the safety and livelihood of fishermen from Pulau Betong in Penang.

These large vessels have been invading the villagers’ fishing territory and refuse to cooperate with the locals.

According to the villagers, the trawlers are a threat to their safety as they operate illegally at night without turning their lights on, increasing the risk of boat collisions.

In a citizen journalist video taken in early May, a fisherman, identified only as Beng, said this problem has been going on for decades.

“These people are very rude to us, and we have yet to receive help from the authorities to address this matter,” he said.

Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusof has also been notified as well.

Beng said villagers are currently appealing to the state government to help resolve this issue, as he fears a fight may erupt one day.

He hopes the government will help the villagers, as most of them are uneducated and their livelihood depends on fishing and the sea.

Story by Emily Chow, Malaysiakini.

I used the old road to Balik Pulau via Teluk Kumbar very frequently and it just did not hit me that there was so much to do as far as the new highway construction was concerned. Maybe it was the gradual change in landscape that did the trick. Taking a lead from my fellow Citizen Journalist, Owen Koh, a team of CJs ventured into the very heart of Balik Pulau and after making good a few assignments, Owen Koh, Chan Lilian and I, took a drive along the old road towards Teluk Kumbar to witness the “half cooked” highway. One requires to blur off all the natural beauty of the hills and the greens of Balik Pulau and focus on the devastating condition of the abandoned highway.

Signs of landslides are frequent from the evidence gathered which we can observed from the side of the hills and it can only get worse with the prolonged halt of this project.

There was this section of the road  which is so narrow that it can only allow a one way flow of traffic from both directions. This can only be done with several traffics lights and these lights are manned by foreign workers. Based on my interview with a foreign “traffic controller”, it seems these narrow roads are monitored 24 hours. When asked if there was any kind of recent construction, he answered no. It seems there was no progress for the past 1 year or so.

At present, the old road  has also a lot of dangerous corners and there was one in particular which I highlighted in my short clip “Abandoned Highway Scars Balik Pulau”. The edge of this road has a drop of at least 30 metres and the worse part is there was not permanent barrier to stop motorists from driving into the ravine.

Since there was a new road construction near this section of the road, a line of plastic barriers were placed. If motorists are not careful, they may rammed through the plastic barriers and plunged into the ravine, a fatal plunge I am sure.

I was able to see these because this time around I rode a motorcycle and try to understand and feel the actual situation. I managed to get close up shots of the abandoned highway and it was shocking indeed.

Based on gathered information, the project was supposed to be completed within the 4th quarter of 2008, but until now, not an inch of this highway is usable. What is holding back the progress of this multi million project or will it become a structure waiting to be swallowed by the jungle of Balik Pulau, Penang?

I think today’s CJM’s outing is by far the best of all. We covered so many issues today and most importantly, we enjoyed doing them.

We did a few vox pops on the newly shifted wet and dry market of Balik Pulau, Penang. The old market which was located in the middle of the lay back Balik Pulau town was shifted to the new complex about 500 metres away.  We asked a few vendors at the new complex how was the business even since they are here. There were some mixed comments, but very valid ones.

We took time to enjoy the local “food” and “drinks” like the  purple banana kuih and nutmeg juice. Both very delicious and refreshing. Thanks to our CJ Owen Koh who is a “kampung boy” in Balik Pulau, we were able to see several changes, some good and some bad, which were highlighted to us. By the way, we will be soon promoting Owen Koh to Public Relation Officer for CJM as he got us to interview a few important people who provided us a lot of information about Balik Pulau. Syabas!! He has a skill to get total strangers talking, like they knew him for ages.

We then went to Pulau Bedong, just a 10 minutes drive from Balik Pulau and visited a farm by accident, of all farms, a goat farm… but we really had fun talking to the owner and I tried communicating the goats but failed. Even Owen failed to get something out from them. 

It was lunch time, and we went for the famous “Prawn mee” and “Assam Laksa” nearby. Well, that was lunch and we dashed to the next destination, Pulau Bedong fishing village. We initially did not expect much, but was pretty excited to get good padding shots of fishermen, trawlers, boats, the sea and we even did not feel the hot sun beaming on us.

We were about to leave until our newly appointed PRO of CJM, called out to us and invited us to have a look at some live lobsters. It was the curiousity that took all of us, Natasja, Lim, Chan Lilian and I, through some narrow wooden planks  and finally to a shady river side where fishermen and their families tend to their catch of the day. Some of their children were playing with live crabs and fishes. We were also introduced to a “urinating prawn” aka Mantis Prawn.

There were a few fishermen mending their nets and we were fasinated how fast one fisherman was doing it. We had small talks and he was doing his thing, we probe a little more deeper into their livehood and suddenly before we know it, the topic of “tiger nets” came in like a flash and there were accusation flying wildly against the related ministry for not responding to their plea. A plea that was of 30 years. This time around, we had 4 camcorders and I believed it was the best coordinated camcorder relay ever. You can hear whispers among CJs,” Eh my battery is going to kong in a few minutes, please stand by”….

Most of us were low on battery and we had to rationed it so that we could get what ever necessary to make this documentary right.

We were also told that the fishermen have asked for help from everyone, but so far there has been no changes. It seems their livelihood are being snatched away by big trawlers with “tiger nets” which is actually a kind bottom trawling net which destroys the sea bed and everything in its path in the process of catching fish. And it seems such nets are prohibited and it is illegal to use them, but are still deployed used by “big trawlers”.

We had some drinks before we moved on to the Owen Koh’s “issue” which has been troubling him for years, the “Abandon Highways of Balik Pulau”. Lilian Chan took some important shots of the said highway and really, it is sad, no, MAD to put things to waste after using up so much money to build a half cooked highway.

Anyway, I will have to stop here, or I will be telling you the whole story. Stay tune for a documentary on these issues, it will be out soon.