On Saturday, a landslide at a construction site in Penang took the lives of 11 men and set off a storm of criticism of the State Government. Criticism has come many quarters both from politically independent NGOs as well as political rivals. Much of the criticism turns on why the State government approved the construction project despite a rejection by the Department of Environment. Natural Resources and Environment Minister called the actions of state authorities “criminal folly.” Today, we ask if there was elements of criminal negligence involved in the approval of the project on the part of the Penang State government.