THE contractor working in the road construction project in Paya Terubong, where a fatal landslide happened last Friday, had used sandy soil that was unsuitable for the hill slope project, a Universiti Sains Malaysia expert on landslides and soil erosion said.

Professor Habibah Lateh, who visited the landslide area today with a team from the National Disaster Management Agency, said she was “shocked” by the topography of the site.

“The soil is loose. If you look at the soil they had used to cut and fill the slope, you can see it is more sandy. It is not solid.

“You have to use the right soil for such work; the type that is solid, strong, and suitable. The engineer has to go to the site to monitor the work,” she told reporters after the visit today.

Habibah said Bukit Kukus is a granite hill, and that granite produces sandy soil due to chemical weathering.

The landslide killed several foreign workers at the Bukit Kukus construction site last Friday, where the Paya Terubong pair road is being built.

The landslide brought 13 containers, which some workers were inside, down from the slope. There was no construction work ongoing during the time.

Habibah said there was water flowing on the slope where the containers were placed, adding that “the slope would surely collapse”.

The USM researcher questioned if anyone had been monitoring the works on the site.

“You must follow the standard operating procedure when you implement the project. It means monitoring must be done. Who did the monitoring?

“I am just an academician. I am not blaming anyone. I don’t know if the SOP was followed.

“The Penang Structural Plan is ‘cantik’ (good). It says you can’t build 76m above sea level and on slopes exceeding 25 degrees. But who monitors? When you don’t monitor, this happens.”

Habibah said there should be detailed studies on topography, contour lines, and soil suitability for such projects.

“We have to count in the human factor, learn from mistakes, and address weaknesses.”

When asked to comment on Habibah’s remarks, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said engineers would have taken all factors into account, such as soil, slopes, drainage, and others.

“I believe that with technology today, there are solutions. We will wait for the engineers to respod to the USM professor,” he told the media at a separate event today. – October 23, 2018.