GEORGE TOWN: Mitigation and slope stabilisation works at the landslide-hit construction site in Taman Seri Rambai in Paya Terubong are expected to take four to five months to complete.
Penang local government and town and country planning committee chairman H'ng Mooi Lye said the Occupational Safety and Health Department (DOSH) had granted permission for the developer's civil engineer to carry out the works following submission of full documentation and a formal application on Wedneaday (Nov 11).
He said the approval, granted to Aptitude Consulting Engineers Sdn Bhd, was subject to obtaining the necessary approvals and permissions from other relevant agencies.
"The mitigation works permitted by DOSH include emergency surface water drainage measures under the erosion and sediment control plan (ESCP), slope stabilisation at the collapsed area (Zone 1), as well as preventive stabilisation works on exposed cut slopes at the construction site," he said in a statement on Thursday (Nov 12).
H'ng said the developer and contractor had also been reminded to fully comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 and all regulations, requirements, provisions and instructions issued by the relevant agencies.
On the four houses evacuated after the incident, he said the residents would not be allowed to return until mitigation works at Zone 1 were fully completed and certified by a geotechnical engineer.
On Oct 25, the landslide brought earth down from the slope behind a house in Taman Seri Rambai, killing 73-year-old Dr Wong Kar Lin.
The collapse sent muddy water and debris rushing into the house and forced neighbours to evacuate.
The slope was part of a construction site for a housing development comprising 1,670 residential units in two blocks – a 32-storey block with 887 units and a 33-storey block with 783 affordable homes.
The development also includes an eight-storey underground car park and recreational facilities.
A stop-work order was subsequently issued for the project following the incident, while Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow called for hillside construction activities to be suspended during the North-East Monsoon season, which typically brings prolonged heavy rain and increases the risk of slope failures.
