KLANG is not at risk of sinkholes as its soil is made up of marine clay and not limestone, says Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
The Works Minister said this in response to concerns about the safety of the city’s roads after a purported sinkhole occurred in Jalan Langat in 2020.
The incident was due to land subsidence, which could occur due to natural circumstances or human activities, he told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
He said land subsidence was usually caused by non-natural factors such as utility pipe leaks, drainage system issues and localised embankment structure failures.“I emphasise that it’s not a sinkhole because the Klang area is not underlain by limestone but marine clay,” he said.
He was responding to a question from Ganabatirau Veraman (PH-Klang) on the ministry’s plans to prevent sinkholes in high-risk areas, especially in Klang.
According to reports, the land subsidence in Jalan Langat was caused by boring operations as part of the LRT3 project.
Investigations also found that the land subsidence was caused by soil structure failure in the area, Nanta added.
Responding to a supplementary question from Dr Halimah Ali (PN-Kapar), he said the ministry plans to use technologies such as Electrical Resistivity Tomography, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and artificial intelligence to detect potential sinkholes.
