Don’t play the blame game

WHEN December comes around, I always hope the year will end on a safe, upbeat note for me, my loved ones and for my country.

Sadly it was not to be for 2022. The Batang Kali landslide tragedy on Dec 16 that killed 31 people left us all shocked and deeply saddened.

As search and rescue teams swung into action, the blame game also started, as with every disaster in this country. Among the first to imply blame was Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming who claimed the Father’s Organic Farm operator Frankie Tan was not licensed to run a campsite.

He told reporters when he visited the disaster area that it was an offence under the Street Drainage and Building Act for a company to operate a business without the necessary approvals and upon conviction, the offender could be sentenced to three years in prison, or a fine of not more than RM50,000.

But as it turned out, campsite operators in various states confirmed what Tan had claimed: that they too were told by the authorities that there was no need for a permit as pitching camps are not permanent structures like hotels or chalets.That made sense, but now the authorities are saying new laws are needed to regulate the burgeoning industry. That is all well and good, but as usual, the response is after the fact; it is as knee jerk as they come.

To me, regulating the industry should cover things like access and parking, hygiene, cleanliness, proper water and electricity supply, sanitary and garbage disposal facilities, perhaps specifying how many square metres for every tent, as well as safety conditions for setting tents in sensitive areas like near rivers and waterfalls, lakes, beaches and of course hillsides.

But all the above wouldn’t really affect ground stability the way massive structural projects like condominiums and highways would, which are liable to cause soil erosion and landslides. After all, people go camping to get away from the concrete jungle, to get a bit closer to nature at its most pristine condition.A YouTube video from 2020 posted by a visitor to Father’s Organic Farm showed crystal clear water in the river and waterfall, which would indicate there was no soil erosion coming down from the hills nearby.But when a person of authority implied that the ill-fated campsite was unlicensed, it led many to assume that the farm/campsite operator, by simply not being licensed, did something wrong that caused the landslide.

Indeed, Tan said some victims and families of those affected had cursed him when they met him at the incident site.

Their anger and grief could be misdirected, if a February 2021 Maxar satellite image on Wikipedia’s 2022 Batang Kali landslide page is accurate in showing the farm to be surrounded by untouched jungle.

Various soil scientists have tried to explain what caused the landslide and the consensus appears to be that no one could have predicted the disaster because of how water can insidiously affect soil quality, stability and movement.

The inclination to blame the campsite operator makes the assumption that if there was no opportunity for people to camp on the site then the only casualties in the landslide would have been some organic plants.

Malaysians are probably more familiar with landslide tragedies caused by heavy rain in developed urban areas, like the infamous Highland Tower collapse on Dec 11, 1993, that killed 48 people; the destruction of 15 upscale bungalows in Bukit Antarabangsa in Selangor on Dec 6, 2008, that claimed four lives and the evacuation of 3,000 residents in the surrounding area; and the Oct 21, 2017, landslide at the housing project construction site in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, that killed 11 workers.

In almost every incident, the victims blamed lackadaisical local authorities, who in turn blamed errant developers for poor slope and hillside management.

But in the Batang Kali landslide, perhaps there are no villains. Tan’s farm and the Batang Kali road had been in existence for quite a while with no issues.

Both provided city folk access to a beautiful, unpolluted jungle environment. Perhaps Tan should have closed his campsite during the rainy season, but there were nice, dry spells and even the Public Works Department said the roadside drains were clean and dry, indicating that there was no issue with the drainage system.

But beneath that tranquil surface, rain had saturated the soil and experts believe that water had accumulated beneath the campsite and when the soil structure had weakened to a state it could no longer hold, it collapsed, creating the first landslide. With the base gone, the rest of the slope gave way, triggering a secondary and more massive landslide burying everything in its path.

Whether any agency or department was aware of the slope being in a critical state is questionable.

Two days after the Batang Kali disaster, Mingguan Malaysia quoted deputy director-general of the Minerals and Geoscience Department (JMG), Zamri Ramli, as saying the department had previously identified 254 slope locations at risk of landslides and the Farmer’s Organic Farm was on the list.But just a week later, Zamri’s boss, JMG director-general Hisamuddin Termidi, issued a statement of denial, saying the slope in the landslide tragedy was not listed as critical under the JMG’s monitoring.What are the public to make of this: the two top guns in the same department giving contradictory statements?

What is clear is that suddenly, the innocuous act of going camping is not so innocuous after all.

State governments in Selangor, Pahang, Negri Sembilan, Johor and Terengganu reacted by ordering all recreational and camping sites to close temporarily, and minister Nga instructed all 155 local councils nationwide to check and vacate campsites along and around high-risk areas, including waterfalls, near riverbanks and hill slopes, for seven days.

Since there is no announcement on the outcome of such checks, all these sites have now presumably reopened and they are ... safe?

The irony of the Batang Kali landslide is that the whole nation was aware and bracing for a very wet monsoon season.

Not wanting a repeat of last year’s flood debacle, the Meteorological Department, the Fire and Rescue Department and other emergency response agencies were so focused on being fully prepared to help people in flood prone places, none thought to sound the warning for people to avoid visiting hilly areas for recreational purposes. This was simply overlooked.

The clamour now is for regulation and accountability over campsites, and it is likely rules and guidelines will be put in place.

But the sad reality is that this landslide, like other tragedies and disasters, will pass once public interest wanes and over time, forgotten. Enforcement, checks and monitoring will be spotty because of cost and manpower and equipment issues.

In the end, the public will be no wiser or better informed, and as with all accidents and tragedies, there will be people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The views expressed here are the writer’s own.