Penang govt wants to obtain landslide probe findings first
GEORGE TOWN: Penang will await the findings from the Occupational Safety and Health Department’s (DOSH) investigation into the fatal Paya Terubong landslide before considering calls for a State Commission of Inquiry (SCI).
State local government committee chairman Jason H’ng Mooi Lye said a special meeting would be held on Monday to discuss the investigation’s progress, mitigation works at the site and the safety of affected residents.
The meeting, he said, would involve DOSH, the Mineral and Geoscience Department, Drainage and Irrigation Department, Public Works Department, Penang Island City Council (MBPP), police and Fire and Rescue Department, among others.
H’ng said immediate safety measures had been implemented, including cordoning off hazardous areas, diverting surface water runoff and covering exposed slopes with geotextile.
“DOSH has conducted a site investigation to determine the cause of the slope failure. We want to know their findings first,” he said when asked whether the SCI proposal would be discussed.
H’ng was responding to the fatal landslide in Taman Seri Rambai which claimed the life of Dr Wong Kar Lin after he was buried under earth that crashed into the kitchen of his home on Sunday.
His wife Chang Mei Nuo, 68, and mother-in-law Wong Poh Lim, 86, survived.
A stop-work order has since been issued on a condominium and road construction project on the hillside near the landslide site.
H’ng also said residents of two of the six houses evacuated following the landslide had been allowed to return home.
He said authorities were awaiting further safety assessments before deciding when residents of the remaining four houses could return.
MBPP mayor Datuk A. Rajendran said the council would investigate the parties involved to determine whether there had been any negligence or failures.
“If negligence or failures are found, DOSH will take legal action under the relevant laws,” he said.
On claims by environmental groups that repeated cementing works on the slope since 2018 pointed to a history of instability, Rajendran said slope stabilisation works had been carried out before construction began, in accordance with safety requirements under the approved development plans.
Asked whether the slope had been deemed safe for construction, he said the approved plans had undergone scrutiny by consultants, an independent checker and the relevant hillside development committee.
Earlier, several NGOs, including Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Penang Forum, called for an independent inquiry into the landslide.
Speaking outside the state assembly building, they said the inquiry should examine development approvals, possible negligence, regulatory compliance and measures to prevent similar incidents.
State opposition leader Muhammad Fauzi Yusoff said he would raise the demand for an SCI during the state legislative assembly meeting next week.
