Commission to probe Penang landslide

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): A Penang state commission of inquiry will be set up to investigate the landslide at a construction site in Tanjung Bungah that claimed 11 lives on Saturday.

The establishment and the terms of reference of the commission will be discussed and approved at the state exco meeting next week, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.

“The Penang State Commission of Inquiry will conduct a full and independent investigation to determine the cause of this worksite accident and take action against those responsible,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The developer will not be allowed to start work on the affordable housing project until the inquiry is completed, said Guan Eng. The building contractor undertaking the construction works and any consultant expert directly involved will be blacklisted by the Penang Island Municipal Council (MBPP) until the outcome of the inquiry.

Those killed in the landslide at 8.50am were workers of one building contractor. They were a Malaysian construction site supervisor and 10 foreign workers from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Myanmar, the statement said.

The MBPP had also been directed to conduct immediate checks on construction sites, especially slope-related, to ensure compliance with guidelines, it said.

The affordable housing project consisted of a 49-storey building with two towers and 12 levels of car parks, news reports said.

Landslides at hill slope projects in Tanjung Bungah had been highlighted to the state government since early this year, according to the Penang Forum group, Bernama reported.

Penang Forum member Dr Lim Mah Hui said the first case was highlighted by the Penang Hill Watch in January and the second in May.

“Photographs of construction and hill cutting on this site were presented to the state government to which it responded that the ‘earthworks were under monitoring’.

“On the second report, we followed up closely but did not get any response from the state government,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Oct 23, 2017.

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