AS the Penang government draws flak over allowing developments on hill slopes, Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy said the landslide in Tanjung Bungah is “not related” to hillside development.

The landslide at Lembah Permai, Tanjung Bungah yesterday morning buried 11 workers, including a Malaysian site supervisor at a construction site. Nine bodies have been recovered so far from the site below a hill.

The incident has sparked calls by non-governmental groups for the state government to take responsibility and to stop all developments on hill land.

Ramasamy said contrary to those who were criticising the Penang government for not being stringent in allowing hillside development, what happened was the collapse of the slope next to the construction site.

“The landslide could be the result of not managing the adjacent slope next to the building site.

“It is wrong to say that hillside development was the cause of this tragedy. The construction site is not on a hill but on flat land,” he said in a statement.

Ramasamy also said the consultant engineers and the contractors must explain the tragedy.

“There are guidelines for the establishment of a buffer zone between the construction site and the hill slope next to it.

“The question is whether the developer, contractors and consultant engineers had adhered to regulations on hill slope management,” he said.

Ramasamy also said the state has already announced that a commission of inquiry would be set up to probe the tragedy, so there was no need for a royal commission of inquiry, as suggested by some groups.

He also said the city council had issued a stop-work order and the contractor and the consultant engineers have also been blacklisted.

“Penang has a low tolerance for hillside projects. Projects above 76m are strictly for prohibited. However, in other places like Kuala Lumpur there is high tolerance of 300m.” – October 22, 2017.