‘HALT HILLSIDE DEVELOPMENT’
Penang Forum wants state authorities to impose moratorium on hillside projects
THE Penang authorities have been urged to impose a moratorium on all hillslope development and highway projects on hillsides in the state following Tuesday’s landslide at a holiday resort in Tanjung Bungah which claimed the lives of four Myanmar construction workers.
Penang Forum, a coalition of public-interest civil society groups, said the moratorium should be in place until the state government had conducted a
comprehensive check on all hillslopes, taken remedial actions, and completed hillslope rehabilitation.
“It bears reiteration that this latest incident exposes the dangers of development on slopes, especially when cut, and regardless of whether legal or illegal.
“As such, we call upon the state to review its policies, guidelines and standard operating procedures in relation to hillside development,” it said yesterday.
Penang Forum said the latest landslide underscored the fragility of Malaysia’s hillslopes.
“We deeply regret the tragic loss of four lives in the landslide.”
In a span of less than two years, Penang has seen three deadly landslide incidents. Besides the latest tragedy, there were the Granito landslide on Oct 21, 2017, and the Bukit Kukus landslide on Oct 19 last year. Twenty-four lives were lost in the three incidents.
“These tragedies highlight the fragility of slopes in Penang, and the extreme caution that needs to be taken when dealing with them,” Penang Forum said, noting that the land works at the site of the latest landslide were illegal, as the landowner did not obtain a permit.
Penang Forum said the Penang Island City Council, had, in response, said a team was monitoring illegal construction work, but in this case, “the construction work was on a slope below the road and hidden” and thus not noticeable.
The group added that this meant that in spite of the council having a team to detect illegal construction cases, it failed to detect this case as it was “off the radar” as a result of its obscure location.
“This forces us to ask, how many more illegal construction works are in progress on slopes around the state?
“Does the council have sufficient monitoring and enforcement capacity to detect these cases and act on them?”
Penang Forum said the latest landslide incident highlighted the need for increased public awareness about slope safety, and how it was imperative for landowners to know their responsibilities in maintaining slopes, as well as alerting the authorities when tell-tale signs of slope instability and erosion appear.
“We urge the authorities to call for explanations, open up records and impose the maximum penalties as a deterrent to prevent such needless loss of lives.
“There is a need for more comprehensive monitoring and enforcement, especially in identifying such cases of illegal construction on slopes.
“Tougher laws and penalties are needed to punish errant land owners who flout the law so that such incidents are not repeated,” it added.
In the 9.25pm incident on Tuesday, four foreigners were killed when tonnes of earth came crashing down on them, burying them alive as they were carrying out works to build a retaining wall at the holiday resort in Batu Ferringhi.
Meanwhile, a stop-work order has been served on the owner of Lost Paradise Resort to prevent him from carrying out further activity involving a retaining wall that collapsed and killed four Myanmar construction workers on Tuesday.
Penang Island City Council Mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang said the stop-work order was issued on Thursday under Section 70A of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 for earthworks.
According to the notice, the construction work in the hotel compound was done without approval from the council, and that the landowner must stop all activity at the site to ensure it was safe and not hazardous to people, the environment and surrounding property.