SCI to probe Penang tragedy from five angles
GEORGE TOWN: The state’s Commission of Inquiry (SCI) on the Tanjung Bungah landslide will look at the incident from five angles.
The first of its terms of reference is to ascertain what caused the failure of the temporary worksite slope.
It will then ascertain who should be held responsible for the failure.
The SCI must also come up with recommendations and appropriate action, including legal action against those responsible.
The commission has been tasked with examining the processes and procedures used in approving the project, if the developer met the set guidelines and to recommend improvements to those guidelines.
Lastly, the SCI is to examine other related matters including if the project was on flat land or a hillslope and determine if the nearby quarry was a key reason for the slope failure or if the incident was a worksite accident.
Announcing these terms of reference in a press conference yesterday, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng also named those who will sit in the SCI.
It will be headed by Penang Planning Appeals Board chairman Datuk Yeo Yang Poh, with geotechnical expert Datuk Dr Gue See Sew and forensic geotechnical engineer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Prof Ramli Nazir.
Penang Hill Corporation adviser Datuk Ng Wee Kok will be the SCI’s secretary.
Lim said the Tanjung Bungah project’s stopwork order would stay in force until the SCI’s investigation is completed.
The commission has three months to complete its report.
The SCI will only start work after Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas approves its formation and it is gazetted in the state assembly.
In another development, a team of officers from the state Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) paid a visit to the Development Planning Department of Penang Island City Council to follow up on the landslide.
Penang MACC director Datuk Abdul Aziz Aban, in a brief statement yesterday, said it was not a raid.
“Our officers paid the department a casual visit on Monday to get details on the landslide,” he added.