GEORGE TOWN: Tanjung Bungah residents staged a demonstration outside the state legislative assembly building today, demanding that the government immediately halt a developer's plans to alter the natural Sore Thumb promontory.

They accused the authorities of breaking longstanding promises by allowing public coastal land to be used for a private five-storey wellness centre.

The protest comes in the wake of the deadly landslide in Paya Terubong on Oct 25. Residents warned that extensive engineering works on natural terrain could invite disaster.

Tanjung Bungah Residents' Association (TBRA) chairman Zulfikar Aziz criticised the developer's plans to reduce the lush hill from 18m to six metres, remove mature vegetation and build a massive concrete seawall along the public shoreline.