PENANG Forum, a coalition of civil society groups in Penang, today questioned whether the state government has been following its own safety guidelines on hillside developments.

The group said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng himself wrote in the guidelines that came out in 2012 that the local authorities – the Penang Island City Council and Seberang Prai Municipal Council – were to strengthen their geotechnical units that processed and approved hill site developments, followed by strict enforcement.

The group quoted Lim as saying that a monitoring team would be set up to ensure compliance in the construction and monitoring performance of slopes.

“The question is, what happened then? Did the state and local governments follow through on their own guidelines? Or was there gross negligence?” Penang Forum said in a press conference at the Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Consumers Association of Penang office today.

The group was questioning the state following yesterday morning’s fatal landslide at a construction site on Lorong Lembah Pantai 3 in Tanjung Bungah that buried 14 people alive. 

The site is at the foot of a hill, where private developer Taman Sri Bunga is building an affordable apartment project.

Penang Forum also hoped all parties involved would be probed by an independent commission of inquiry.

“All parties, starting from the state planning committee (SPC) chaired by the chief minister that gives approvals for hillslope projects to the council’s One-Stop-Centre committee that approved the apartment project to the engineers who are supposed to monitor the project and the developers and contractors who carried out the work, should investigated and held responsible,” the group said.

Former city councillor Dr Lim Mah Hui, a Penang Forum member, said according to the Town and Country Planning Act, state regulations could not supersede local government regulations.

“Council regulations can overrule the state authority. But from my experience as a councillor, this rule is ‘terbalik’ (the opposite) here.

“So, the probe must include the SPC, to check if rules had been violated. The investigations must be from the top, not just focusing on the developer,” he said.

Tanjung Bungah residents’ association chairman Meenakshi Raman said they were concerned that the scope and terms of the state’s proposed inquiry would be too narrow, looking only into worker safety issues.

“We need to go higher up to check if rules were not followed, or if the councils that had the power to act sternly are not doing so because of intervention from higher up.

“We hope this commission of inquiry can set a good example for the country,” she said.

The coalition, which includes SAM, CAP, Malaysian Nature Society, Women for Change, Penang Heritage Trust, Friends of Botanical Gardens, and 25 residents associations and management committees, also urged the state to halt all hillslope projects immediately.

They also urged the state to amend the 2009 guidelines on “special projects” to explicitly prohibit all development on hill lands, except for essential public services.

Another Penang Forum member, Dr Kam Suan Pheng, an expert in geographical  information systems, said it was clear in the Structure Plan that developments on hill land that were 250ft above sea level or with 25 degree slopes were prohibited.

“What happens now is many developers cut the hillslopes to make the land they want to build on flat. So, the slopes that remain become steeper and less stable.

“We know there has been no rain recently in Penang. Our authorities always blame disasters on the weather, the super typhoon, super moon… so how did this landslide happen without rain?”

Kam also cited a recent landslide at Medan Fettes not far from Lembah Permai that occurred last month.

“Developers will say that they have the technology to rehabilitate and stabilise slopes, but let’s consider the Medan Fettes incident on September 15.

“A landslide could still happened at a development that is 25 years old. We have to respect the forces of nature,” she said.

Penang Forum also called for all barren or exposed slopes and spaces to be rehabilitated to prevent further soil erosion.

“The authorities must take stern enforcement, undertake effective deterrent punishments on those who clear land illegally or fail to abide by conditions imposed to prevent soil erosion.

“There must be frequent and effective monitoring on all hillslopes by the authorities, and a public declaration and warning on all hillslopes and areas that are unsafe,” the group said.

Mah Hui also said that despite the state authorities having guidelines for monitoring hillslopes, civil society members have had to do the job and share information with the authorities.

Penang Forum, through its hill monitoring unit, Penang Hills Watch (PHW), had in August last year, reported hill-clearing activities near Lorong Lembah Permai 3, where yesterday’s landslide happened, to the council.

In January this year, PHW sent in a report to the state government, which included this complaint.

Mah Hui said the authorities often responded by giving bureaucratic answers, as if the job has been done, but in reality, it was not the case. – October 22, 2017.