Bukit Antarabangsa landslide

I would like to offer my condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones in the hillside landslide which (again) happened in Bukit Antarabangsa area.

Let us all say a prayer for all the victims and also pray for their loved ones. May the Almighty also give strength and patience to all those victims who have been evacuated and are unsure of their homes and lives due to the landslide.

I am very happy that the residents are thinking of suing the local authorithy for negligence. It seems they had reported to MPAJ of their concerns, especially when some trees were rooted out and so on, yet the MPAJ failed to take relevant and sufficient necessary actions. In their defense, MPAJ said that they had built a gabion wall to arrest the problem.

I think the responsibility should not just be limited to this. We must look at the following also :-

i. MPAJ for approving further development projects on the hillside after the federal government gave instructions with regard to hillside development. this should include the council president, councilors in charge, planners, engineers and so on that so-called went through the applications and approved them.
ii. The developers involved in developments around the area.
iii. The consultants who did the studies and actually found ways to declare the developments safe. These will include the engineers, architects, soil engineers and so on. These people are ‘experts’ in their field and should give fair and proper advice.

I am no expert, but I wonder if you need state approval for such developments? If the answer is yes, then the previous state exco is partly to blame for approving the projects.

I also believe it should not be only MPAJ as an entity that should take responsibility, but the individuals involved. The state government being the authority in charge should take disciplinary actions against these people should they be found to have acted improperly or unprofessionally, including demoting these officers or even sacking them. Then only will others who are in these positions take their jobs seriously and ensure proper guidelines are followed.

I would also like MPAJ to do the following:-

i. Immediately issue stop work orders to all hillside developments, not temporarily or until the so-called studies are completed. It must be a permanent stop. In fact, there should be a total ban on any future developments in Bukit Antarabangsa. This area is a water catchment area, meaning water retention is high making the soil unstable for development.
ii. Conduct a study on the whole area on how to strengthen the soil structure in the area to ensure no other landslides will happen in the future. Even if there are no further developments, we still have to ensure no other landslides happen in the area.
iii. Publish these studies for public consumption.

The Federal Government must instruct all State Governments to restudy all hillside developments and also existing housing areas on all hillsides.

The Federal Government should also sponsor and push a bill through the Parliament to ensure greater precaution and conservatism are practiced in planning and approving developments of such nature in the future. The details of the bill I leave it up to the experts to fill in.

I am sure there are many other items and issues of importance that I have missed here but MPAJ and others including individuals must take responsibility. The Federal and State Governments whether BN or PR must step up and ensure safety of the rakyat.

I also hope the Federal Government, State Governments and Local Authorities are serious. Do not just be reactionary to the events ie start issuing stop work orders, restudy all plans and so on but after three months, when things have quietened down, everything goes back to the way it is.

After all, what if the victims are your loved ones? Let’s pray that won’t be the case.