Penang govt asked to submit report

Noh: Ministry wants state authorities to explain why hillslope project was allowed

KUALA LUMPUR: The Penang state government has been asked to present a report on the Tanjung Bungah landslide tragedy to the National Physical Planning Council next week.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is expected to explain the incident to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during the meeting.

The ministry has sent an official letter to the state government requesting the report.

“We are giving them a chance to table a report,” Noh told a press conference here yesterday.

Noh also said the state government did not follow the Guidelines for Hillside and Highland Areas Development Planning set by the Federal Government on hillslope developments.

“Penang did not follow our recommendations. They claimed their report was more detailed and comprehensive due to the nature of the land,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

Noh said the state government preferred to use its own Safety Guidelines for Hill Site Development 2012.

He added that a state government has the liberty not to follow the guidelines issued by the Federal Government.

“A state has full authority over any decision, so we cannot force them to follow our guidelines,” he said, adding that local governments should still take heed of the Federal stipulations.

Noh also challenged DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang to tell his son to resign over the landslide tragedy.

Noh said he did not want to politicise the matter but it was only appropriate because Kit Siang had blamed him for the fire that claimed 23 lives at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school in Kampung Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, last month.

“They like to politicise such tragedies. Kit Siang even blamed me over the tahfiz fire.

“So now, I am challenging him to tell his son Guan Eng to resign,” he said.

Kit Siang had reportedly said that Noh should be sacked or trans ferred for failing to ensure urban wellbeing.

On Saturday morning, 11 workers including a site supervisor were killed when a landslide struck at 8.30am while they were carrying out work at the basement area of the affordable housing project.

Guan Eng maintains that the landslide was a construction tragedy.

The National Resources and Environment Ministry said the project was rejected by the Department of Environment in 2015 as it was located close to a quarry.