The group held up white flowers, candles and placards, and set-up a memorial for those who died, each of whose name and nationality was displayed on a piece of paper.
The event also remembered the 11 lives lost in the Tanjung Bungah landslide exactly a year ago (Oct 21), after a 10m hillslope came crashing down on them at an under-construction apartment project.
Activist Lim Li Lian delivered an impassioned speech, saying the foreign workers who died in both tragedies had families to feed back home.
“They did nothing. And now all these people are dead, what about their children and wives, do you know how it is to be a single parent? Enough is enough,” she said.
In tears, she said the incident could have been averted if the state government heeded repeated warnings from groups opposed to hill clearing.
She said Penang Hills Watch had only last month sent a report to state executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari, with pictures of hills “where everything has been cut off”.
“The report specifically said no mitigation measures had been taken. What did they do? What did the contractors do? What did Zairil Khir Johari do? What did the Penang government do?” she asked.
“It is not an act of God. This is not the Sahara desert where it never rains.”
Rescuers have so far brought out seven bodies from the rubble. Three more are missing.
All the victims are foreign workers from Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Myanmar.
Lim said the Penang state government did not learn from the Tanjung Bungah landslide last year.
“It seems like none of you (politicians) really care. Just busy posting pictures of site visits after tragedy struck.
“My grandparents, who are 80+ and 90+ still walked out on a tongkat and voted for you, even though you promised to fix the floods for so many years.
“They may be old but they still voted for you. Do any of you have a conscience?
“I’ve had enough. I’ve realised that those of you who have a conscience have left the party and as for the rest of you, it seems when we voted for you we were actually voting for greed.
“God have mercy on our souls,” she said.