A PKR backbencher today urged the Penang government to stop all development on hillslopes.

Batu Uban assemblyman Dr T. Jayabalan said all such projects should be stopped until proper studies were done on hillslopes.

“Enough is enough. Should we wait for another incident to happen? It’s high time now (to halt these developments),” he said when debating the state’s budget 2018 in the Penang legislative assembly tonight.

Jayabalan had earlier cited the landslide on October 21 in a construction site in Tanjung Bungah that killed 11 construction workers. The construction site is near a hillslope.

The incident renewed calls on the state government to cease all hillslope developments.

Shariful Azhar Othman (BN-Bertam) also voiced his objections against development on hillslopes, citing concerns about landslides.

He also criticised remarks by R.S.N. Rayer’s (DAP- Seri Delima) assertion earlier that not all landslides happened due to development.

Rayer said landslides on Penang Hill last weekend happened in spots without any development.

“It seems to be the state’s stance that more landslides happen in places without development than in places with development,” Shariful said during his debate on the state budget.

Shariful brought up a luxury housing project in Tanjung Bungah, where a road collapsed during last weekend’s storm.

The road in front of a row of three-storey semi-detached houses collapsed after the retention wall was damaged in the heavy rain. Several houses, which were unoccupied pending, were also damaged.

“Apparently there are many rich people in Penang who can afford such homes. When there is demand for homes on hillslopes and seafronts with nice views, there will be supply by developers.

“As a CAT (competency, accountability, transparency) government, the administration should have policies to prevent such incidents and to curb the greed of developers,” Shariful said.

Rayer interjected and said Shariful’s Tanjung Bungah road collapse example was a different matter from landslides on Penang Hill.

He said the Tanjung Bungah case, which was a sinkhole incident, may have been the result of failure to follow regulations or other factors.

Shariful said Rayer had a point that there was no guarantee that all developments were free of negligence.

“But if the developer had built on flat land, there may be no such incident today.

“Developers can fix and restore the damaged homes and road, but what guarantee do we have that there will not be any soil movement in the future?”  

The Penang Island City Council said the project’s consultant engineer had been told to probe into the   incident and start mitigation works. – November 9, 2017.