Construction sites advised to implement safety measures for landslide prevention

KLANG (Oct 20): The Selangor Disaster Management Unit has advised all local councils in the state to set in place measures to prevent rain-related mishaps from occurring at construction sites.

The Star reports that the unit head Ahmad Fairuz Mohd Yusof said: “These are all man-made disasters that can be prevented if the necessary mitigation was in place."

As the monsoon season begins next week, lasting until January, all concerned have been cautioned.

“With the rain comes flash floods and landslides can happen if there are exposed slopes as a lot of absorption will take place and the ground will become soggy and heavy,” he said to the daily.

Slopes that have been cut-up and are not properly covered, are high-risk for landslides, and he said it was only a matter of time.

“We have also advised for water management run off at construction sites because a bad flow will also cause landslides,”’ said Ahmad Fairuz.

The Star quoted Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) centre of geotropic director Prof Edy Tonnizam Mohamad who said heavy rainfalls and major development projects taking place at hillside areas will see high chances of landslide happening frequently nationwide.

“We see developers cutting slope to make way for their project at hillside areas and this is a major concern especially in a tropic country like Malaysia."