A NATURAL water source on Bukit Kukus, where the fatal landslide in Paya Terubong happened, was blocked by the contractor working on the road construction without regard for drainage, local authorities said.

Penang Island City Council mayor Yew Tung Seang said he saw this personally while visiting the site of the tragedy on Saturday morning.

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions while investigations are still ongoing by the authorities.

“But on this specific matter, I want an explanation. We don’t need experts to tell us that we need to make water-flow diversions before (doing) the earth works.

“To me, that may be a main cause of the landslide, which has cost lives and brought so much trouble,” he told a press conference in Paya Terubong today.

The landslide occurred last Friday shortly after 1pm. So far, eight bodies have been recovered while four people were injured, all of whom are foreign workers.

Yew said the contractor was told on Saturday to divert the water flow, which is now being monitored as a safety precaution.

“We informed the Minerals and Geosciences Department the same afternoon about what we had learned about the water source. The director agrees with us.”

The contractor and consultant have been ordered to submit reports on what happened with regard to the water source, he said.

“I am still waiting for answers from the parties involved in black and white. We want them to show-cause how they had overlooked the need to divert the water flow. 

“We will not speculate at this point. But I suspect this problem led to the incident,” he said while admitting that he had unconventionally jumped the gun by openly stating his suspicion concerning the lack of water-flow diversion.

“We regret what happened. The tragedy could have been avoided.”

Yew said the city council conducted an internal probe and he has had held meetings with certain parties over the incident.

The council may also work with the police for further investigations, apart from other probes conducted by other relevant authorities, he said.

“At the site, the main job now is to ensure the safety of rescuers (who are conducting the search).”

Yew also said they may work with the Board of Engineers to ensure similar incidents do not recur. 

The Paya Terubong pair road was necessary and also involved straightforward engineering, he said.

“We have to continue with the project. We hope it can be completed on time in 2020. Work on the road alignment had started in 2016.

“This is not a complex project that requires high technology. We just need to follow each other’s SOP (standard operating procedure). 

“The issue is not about the project being at the wrong location. It is the most efficient location, in fact.” – October 22, 2018.