PENANG Island City Council mayor Maimunah Mohd Sharif has denied allegations that hillside developments are approved easily, saying that all such projects go through a stringent application process.

A landslide yesterday buried 14 workers alive at a construction site in Lorong Lembah Permai 3, where a private developer was building an affordable apartment project.

Maimunah also said those who accused the council of corruption in the matter could file their complaint with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission if they had proof.

“We do our jobs honestly and with integrity,” she said at the construction site in Tanjung Bungah earlier today.

Maimunah said the council processed all applications for construction projects.

She said applications were also referred to 22 technical departments before they were taken to the council’s one-stop-centre for consideration.

“How can it be that the council simply approves projects? We follow the process and the regulations,” she said.

The planning approval for the project was approved by the council in February 2015 and the building plan was passed in May the same year.

Asked if the slope at the site was unsafe for development, Maimunah said they would have to check the environmental impact assessment report in detail.

Earlier, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the project’s contractor and “experts” involved in the construction would be blacklisted during the duration of a special commission of inquiry to be set up to investigate the landslide.

So far, the bodies of eight out of the 14 people buried have been found. The latest body was found shortly before 4pm. – October 22, 2017.