Mahathir tells citizens to prevent man-made disasters

Mahathir tells citizens to prevent man-made disasters

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad urged citizens to shoulder greater responsibility for preventing man-made disasters as the nation celebrated its independence anniversary yesterday.

Unlike neighboring Indonesia and the Philippines, along the earthquake and volcano-prone "ring of fire", Malaysia has been spared natural disasters, but is plagued by "tragedies of our own doing", Mahathir said.

"If our buildings collapse, river water becomes murky, beautiful hills and mountains are scarred, road accidents occur, drug abuse takes place and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) spreads -- these are all due to our own actions," he said in an address to the nation on Tuesday night.

Malaysia's opposition leader Lim Kit Siang lost no time in jumping on he prime minister's statement.

"Mahathir's call to prevent man-made disasters will not be taken seriously so long as Malaysia has a transport minister who holds the world record of three international airport fires in two years," said Lim, head of the Democratic Action Party.

Malaysia's cabinet blamed the developer for the collapse of a luxury condominium block last December that killed at least 48 people, saying the building's foundations were weak.

Malaysia traffic officials say the country has one of the worst per capita road accident rates in the world. With a population of 19 million, Malaysia recorded 135,995 road accidents last year, in which 4,666 people died.

What was then Malaya gained independence from Britain in 1957. It became Malaysia six years later when the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak joined the Malaya federation along with Singapore, which itself declared independence in 1965.