THE physical work to repair damaged slopes and road on the Batang Kali-Genting Highlands route will start at the end of August and is expected to be completed in March next year.

State Infrastructure and Public Amenities, Agriculture Modernisation and Agro-Based Industry Committee chairman Izham Hashim said repair is progressing smoothly.

“After the incident (landslide tragedy), we continued to study and propose solutions to the collapsed slopes. This project was approved in May and we have appointed (contractors). It is expected to be completed in March 2024.

“The repair work uses the design and build method. The contractor is in the final phase to finalise the design of the TerraLink wall system. The physical repair work is expected to start at the end of next month,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama here.

He said the Selangor government had allocated RM19 million for the process of repairing the slopes and road.

On a statement by Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi that his ministry is still waiting for comments from the Selangor government, Izham said at the state level, his side is waiting for the report of the landslide investigation committee carried out and managed by the Public Works Department headquarters’ slope engineering branch.

“The report is now in the final draft, on the causes of the incident and the proposed actions that need to be implemented,” he said.

Izham said currently only one lane is open and it is limited to workers in the Genting Highlands area.

The 2.30am tragedy on December 16, 2022, involved 92 victims, with 61 of them surviving while another 31 were killed, after a landslide buried the Father’s Organic Farm camping area in Batang Kali.

The heartbreaking incident claimed the lives of 18 adults and 13 children, with 20 bodies found in sector A, one in sector B and 10 more in sector C in the camp area. – Bernama, July 13, 2023.