The country'sdevelopment is definitelytaking a toll on its environment. The massive landslipon January 6, 1996, along theNorth-South highway between Tapah and -Gopeng,before Ipoh, the statq capitalof Perak, was one amongmany others that point to alack of environmental concern. As many as 29 majorlandslips occured last year in'several places along theNorth-South highway between Johore Bahru in theSouth and Bukit KayuHitam, near the Thai border.There were 176 landslipsin the Camero 'n highlandsalong Malaysia's centralmountain range. Penangisland witnessed 172 landslips within a month. Thesefigures merely depict the tipof the iceberg, as numerousother not so major landslipsoccur regularly throughoutthe country. These disastershave vindicated what theenvironmentalists have longbeen portending. In the raceto become an industrialised nation, environmentalguidelines are being easilybrushed aside.