Any action against the developer of the Paya Terubong landslide site will wait on the findings of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, with slope repair work at the affected zone expected to run four to five months, Malay Mail reported.
State local government and town and country planning committee chairman H’ng Mooi Lye said the state government would await the outcome of the department’s investigation before deciding on further action against the project developer.
“We will await DOSH’s findings,” he told Bernama when contacted.
On mitigation work, H’ng said consulting engineers had told a recent coordination meeting that the initial phase would focus on Zones A and B. The developer must first submit Pre-Construction Information documents to the department for assessment before any work can begin on site.
The Penang Island City Council had no objection to the proposed mitigation measures, he added, subject to the department’s final approval.
The state has held the developer and landowner of a condominium and road project responsible for the incident, and Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has warned of possible legal consequences, saying the landslide happened on the developer’s land, FMT noted.
The slope gave way at 8.36am on 25 October, burying the house of 73-year-old Dr Wong Kar Lin at Taman Seri Rambai. His wife Chang Mei Nuo, 68, and mother-in-law Wong Poh Lim, who is in her 80s, escaped.
The council issued a stop-work order on earthworks at the site under the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 and gave the developer seven days to submit a site inspection report with maps of risky slopes and a mitigation plan. It also ordered runoff from the top of the slope to be diverted through temporary drainage and exposed ground to be covered with geotextile.
MBPP mayor A Rajendran said the department had been carrying out a site investigation since 26 October and would summon all parties involved to establish what happened, followed by legal action if negligence or a failure by any party is established.
Rajendran said the project had been approved after several assessments by consultants as well as the council, the department and the minerals and geoscience department, and that slope stabilisation work was required under the approvals given.
Twelve non-governmental organisations led by Consumers Association of Penang vice-president Meenakshi Raman have called for a state commission of inquiry into the incident, citing the Granito landslide in Tanjung Bungah in 2017 that killed 11 people. Penang Hills Watch co-founder Kam Suan Pheng said slope cementing work had been carried out repeatedly near the affected row of houses from 2018 to this year, which she said showed the slope was already unstable.
H’ng chaired a coordination meeting on 2 November to review the investigation and decide whether further measures were needed to address safety in the area.
The state has said it will not draw conclusions on the cause of the landslide or on allegations of negligence before the investigation is completed, and no date has been set for the findings.
