A huge boulder has come down behind homes in Island Park, and residents now want the hillside above their road inspected before anything else gives way.
The rockfall happened three days before the residents spoke out, beside the road that runs directly behind houses along Lorong Tembaga. No injuries or structural damage were reported, according to the New Straits Times.
Datuk Dr T. Jayabalan, who lives there, said the rock came to rest a short distance from two houses occupied by elderly residents. “It landed right at the back of two residences,” he said.
“I am worried that should the boulder shift or roll further, it could cause injuries, property damage or obstruct the road,” he said. That concern led the households to lodge a police report.
They want the police, the local council and geotechnical agencies to carry out an immediate safety assessment of the slope. “We want the authorities to conduct an inspection and take the necessary action to ensure public safety,” Jayabalan said.
The anxiety has a recent reference point. On 25 Oct, a landslide at Taman Seri Rambai in Paya Terubong buried a house and killed a 73-year-old retired doctor, Dr Wong Kar Lin. A coalition of Penang NGOs called for a State Commission of Inquiry into that landslide, The Star noted, naming the 2017 Granito collapse in Tanjung Bungah, which killed 11 people, as the precedent.
“We do not want any untoward incident to happen, more so after the recent landslide in Paya Terubong which claimed an innocent life,” Jayabalan said.
The coalition, led by Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman, wants the inquiry to establish the cause, examine the approvals granted by the authorities, identify possible negligence and settle who should answer for it. Its members include the Consumers Association of Penang, Penang Hills Watch, Penang Forum, Aliran and Penang Heritage Trust.
Aliran representative Henry Loh noted that Dr Wong had campaigned against hillside clearing a decade before he died. “This loss was entirely preventable if public safety had been prioritised,” he said.
The groups also object to a draft Penang Structure Plan 2040 that would allow development on hills above 76m or on slopes steeper than 25 degrees. Penang Hills Watch co-founder Dr Kam Suan Pheng presented satellite imagery indicating repeated slope failures behind the affected homes from early 2018 onward, with fresh concrete patching visible in images taken this year.
Sungai Dua assemblyman Muhammad Fauzi Yusoff has backed the call and will raise the demand for the inquiry when the state assembly sits on 2 Nov.
For the Lorong Tembaga households, the ask is narrower and more immediate: an inspection of the slope above their road, and word on whether the rock will be secured or removed. Until then, Jayabalan said, residents remain anxious about further rockfalls or slope movement.
