THE special committee set up by the Penang government to investigate the Bukit Kukus landslide in Paya Terubong may take a month to complete.

Its chairman, Deputy Chief Minister I Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman, said the committee wants to start work as soon as possible this week.

“I cannot promise, but hopefully we will be able to come out with our findings in a month or so,” he told reporters after opening a seminar on LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders) at the Caring Society Complex today.

The landslide on October 19 at a road construction site in Paya Terubong killed nine foreign labourers. The incident, the second landslide in two years that saw lives lost in Penang, caused an outcry among local civil society.

Penang Forum, a loose coalition of civil groups in the state, have asked the state to include two of its representatives in any state or federal panel probing the incident.

When asked if he would include members of Penang’s civil society in the special committee, Zakiyuddin said it was not a commission of inquiry.

“The committee will invite anyone who can help us establish the facts of the incident. But we are not a commission of inquiry.

“The committee’s job is only to advise the state exco. At this time, the government is getting information from many parties and has difficulty with taking the next step or making a stand.

“So we will investigate, make a conclusion, and advise the exco so it can act accordingly. You have to understand the scope of the committee.”

Other members of the special committee are public works exco Zairil Khir Johari, an engineer from the state secretary’s office, and representatives from the Institution of Engineers Malaysia Penang branch. – October 29, 2018.