Towering doubts over Warisan Merdeka

"I can no longer write about the beauty of the world. Images of warm and friendly villages turn to uncertainty, as they surrender their faith and soul to slander. We have made ourselves miserable, as we have willingly allowed the government, politicians, bureaucrats and experts to despise reason, moral values and culture...sharp businessmen became the government's hoodlums and stole our wealth. Our values are in chaos...our environment and our lives have been eroded, polluted, worse and worse every day. "

From ‘A Poet's Lament' by Rendra, a famous Indonesian poet and dramatist, May 1991.

The fall of many civilisations - Mesopotamia, Classical Greece, the Roman Empire, and Easter Island have been linked to the destruction of the environment as well as inequalities in the distribution of resources and wealth. Equity is the central principle of sustainability.

Will a 100-storey mega tower translate into equity for all Malaysians?

The Warisan Merdeka tower to be built by 2020 at a whopping cost of RM5 billion will have a multiplier effect on the economy and will benefit the people, said Najib Razak, the Prime Minister.

But what are the multiplier effects? Is this form of development sustainable?

There are many definitions of sustainable development. The first recognised definition of sustainable development is from the Bruntland Commission, 1987.

It states sustainable development "meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future."

Malaysia's five year plans and annual budgets are supposed to be based on the concept of sustainability. But the 2010 Budget proposals suggest that construction of high-rise edifices will continue to dominate the country's development.

Is this sustainable development ? What is sustainability for politicians and policy makers is not sustainability for the majority of Malaysians, particularly the poor.

Sustainability for most Malaysians is secure and adequate livelihoods that provide for social and physical well-being of their families. This includes access to adequate income, safe homes, education, food, healthcare, clear water and air and affordable transport.

Sustainable government budgets and projects must put people first. The concept of sustainability goes beyond economic growth based on high rise development.

Too many questions

There are too many questions on this Malaysia boleh (can) - Warisan Merdeka . First we do not have the human resources to develop mega projects.

The construction industry is being sustained by foreign labour.

The labour and sweat of Indonesians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and Burmese transformed the landscape of Kuala Lumpur.

During this period of transformation, we have seen growing corruption, abuses of foreign workers and migrants- ranging from recruitment abuses to political and socio-cultural marginalisation of foreign workers.

Malaysia's record on human trafficking and human rights violations of migrant labour indicates weaknesses in the country's ability to pursue just, humane and sustainable mega developments, particularly as we depend on migrant labour.

The ecological consequences of uncontrolled urban development can be devastating for people and the physical environment.

High rise buildings consume a lot of resources such as large quantities of building materials during construction. Such construction will produce a great deal of waste, use considerable amounts of energy and potable water.

There are issues related to health and safety and accidents during the construction of high rise buildings. Our records on occupational safety and health matters leave much to be desired.

Malaysia has paid scant attention to the psychological and social concerns of occupants of high-rise buildings.

Alongside the existing high rise buildings, a modern airport and urban sprawls, another side of development exists - detention camps for migrants, shelters for trafficked woman and children, exploitation of labour, gridlocked roads , contaminated water, high levels of pollution - Klang Valley is shrouded in a permanent haze.

City of cranes

The ecological consequences of constructing the mega tower are many. Kuala Lumpur will continue to be a crane city, always. In the last 30 years cranes have dominated Kuala Lumpur's landscape.

Several years ago, a British journalist friend, on a visit to Kuala Lumpur expressed her disappointment after a city tour of KL - The cranes are everywhere, she lamented...Yes some cranes have been left at abandoned project sites, after the 1998 financial crisis.

The continued presence of cranes around the city for decades speaks volumes on the unsustainability of Malaysia's development model - the over dependence on the construction industry to spur economic growth.

Dependency on mega projects to bring benefits to the people is like being caught in a nest of risks and doubts.

The Najib administration has yet to put in place plans, mechanisms and various tools to combat endemic corruption in the country. Pronouncements of zero tolerance for bribery and corruption are not good enough. The intentions must be turned into actions. The Transformation programme has not happened as promised.

Countless opportunities for corruption

A mega capital intensive RM5 billion project until 2020 provides countless opportunities for corruption when effective mechanisms to combat corruption are yet to be institutionalised.

Global surveys have revealed that, "nowhere is corruption more ingrained than in the construction sector".

Corruption in the construction sector has plundered and shaped economies states a global corruption report by Transparency International.

Capital intensive projects provide fertile grounds for corruption. According to Neill Stansburry of Transparency International UK, the features of construction projects such as size, one-off projects and easy to inflate costs, government involvement, numerous contractual links, project secrecy, concealed work (steel concealed by concrete, plaster etc), entrenched national interests etc.

Weak governance structures allows for the marriage of corrupt officials, contractors, developers and politicians. This results in building rules and codes being ignored and shoddy work gets through.

Corruption happens at every phase in construction projects from planning to design, approval and award of contracts, procurement during the construction process etc.

A judge hearing a corruption case related to a construction project several years ago in Germany said, "It is customary for people to help themselves when it comes to major construction projects."

Money politics and mega projects linked

The link between money politics and mega projects is a concern that is being raised in debates on reforming political financing.

Political donations continue to flow to politicians from mega projects particularly in countries where political financing has not been regulated.

Where there are regulations, loopholes like absence of open tenders, lack of independent oversight in mega projects allow political donations to flow without accountability.

The victims of corruption are always ordinary citizens who will not be able to have affordable housing, food, medicines, education and other essentials.

During natural disasters like earthquakes, mega projects cost lives, often that of ordinary citizens. That earthquakes do not kill people, collapsing buildings do, is a well known adage.

There are towering doubts over the proposed 100 storey Warisan Merdeka.

JOSIE M FERNANDEZ is currently an Asian Public Intellectual Fellow, director of Philanthropy Asia, consultant and researcher. Working on sustainability, philanthropy and anti-corruption actions are some of her current passions besides writing.