THE Commission of Inquiry into the landslide at a construction site on Lorong Lembah Permai 3 in Tanjung Bungah, Penang that killed 11 people will cover various aspects of the incident, from how the apartment project was approved to the cause of the tragedy.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, in announcing the setting up of the commission today, said the inquiry will determine the cause of the failure of the temporary slope at the site.

The scope of the inquiry also includes scrutinising the procedures involved in approving the 50-storey affordable apartment project by the private developer, Taman Sri Bunga Sdn Bhd.

“The commission will probe into whether the procedures were in order and guidelines were followed, as well as recommend improvements.

“It will also review matters related to the project, such as whether the site was on flat land or a hill slope and whether the nearby quarry was among the main reasons for the failure of the temporary slope or what happened was a mere construction site accident.

“The commission will also determine the parties responsible for the temporary slope failure and make and take appropriate action, including legal action, on those responsible,” Lim told a press conference at Komtar today.

The members of the commission are former Malaysian Bar Council president and Penang Appeals Board chairman Datuk Yeo Yang Poh, who will act as chairman in the inquiry; geotechnical expert Dr Gue See Sew; and Professor Ramli Nazir of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Geotechnic and Transportation Department.

The independent commission, which has the authority to call up anyone deemed necessary for questioning, has three months to complete the investigation and prepare its report.

Lim also said no work would be allowed at the site until the inquiry was completed and its findings announced, adding that the companies and expert consultants involved in the affordable apartment project had been blacklisted by the state.

On what would happen now to those who had bought units at the apartment, he said it up to the developers to resolve.

The landslide at the construction site last Saturday morning killed 10 foreign workers and a Malaysian site supervisor. It took three days for search and rescue teams to recover the bodies, with the last two found on Monday morning.

The Penang government has drawn flak since the incident, with the federal government accusing the Pakatan Harapan administration of “lacking oversight” because the Department of Environment (DoE) had rejected the developer’s planning permission application in January 2015 due to the apartment site being near a permanent quarry.

Penang civil groups and residents’ associations that had in the past opposed development on hill land and slopes had also slammed the state government for not heeding their previous calls to stop such projects.

The Penang government and the Penang Island City Council countered by saying the incident was a construction site accident and that the apartment site was on flat land, not hill land.

It also reportedly said the distance between the quarry and the apartment were further apart than two earlier projects approved by the DoE in 2008. – October 25, 2017.