Hillslope project complied with safety guidelines, says mayor

The housing development at the Tanjung Bungah hillslope where a landslide occurred last Saturday, killing 11 workers, was declared to have complied with the ‘Safety Guidelines for Hill Site Development 2012’ today.

The project was approved after obtaining feedback from about 20 federal and state agencies, Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Maimunah Sharif said.

Responding to the statement from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry that it did not approve the development, Maimunah said the development obtained the approval of the Mineral and Geoscience Department on Dec 30, 2014.

Maimunah said 20 other technical departments also gave their views on the development in a One-Stop Centre (OSC) committee meeting on Feb 18, 2015, and the decision to approve it was based on the feedback.

Asked if MBPP would declassify the minutes of that particular OSC meeting, Maimunah responded in the positive, saying the documents would also be submitted to the State Commission of Inquiry on the disaster when its hearing commences.

She then gave a chronology of events that led to the City Council’s approval of the development, located at Lembah Permai 3, Tanjung Bungah.

The landslide, which occurred on the morning of Oct 21, killed 11 workers - a Malaysian and 10 foreigners.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has described the incident as a worksite accident, while a police report has been lodged to probe professional negligence on the part of the developer that led to the landslide and death of the workers.

“The developer submitted an application for planning permission to the Penang Island City Council on Nov 26, 2014; and this was submitted to the technical departments for review,” Maimunah said at a press conference at the landslide site today.

“The application was tabled at the One-Stop Centre committee meeting (on development approvals) on Feb 18, 2015, and was approved with conditions,” she noted.

“Building plans for the development were submitted to the City Council on April 15, 2015. These were referred to the technical departments for feedback and the project was approved on May 19, 2015.

“Application to commence earthworks were submitted to the council on May 14, 2015 and approved on June 30, 2015 with conditions, while approval for the commencement of work has been given on Jan 18, 2016,” Maimunah said.

The Environment Ministry said it did not approve the project as it was situated close to an active quarry that has been in operation since 1960, with the last blasting being carried out on Oct 9.

“The distance of the development site to the blasting point is more than 500 metres, while the distance of the site to the crushing point is more than 180 metres,” Maimunah said.

“Around the proposed development are other buildings, like the Tunku Abdul Rahman College, which was approved and supported by the Department of Environment on May 22, 2008.

“It is a double standard if the development to build affordable housing was not approved when projects in the surrounding areas were approved earlier,” she added.

Maimunah said the development site is in the “public housing” zone under the council’s 1976 policy plan and development planning.

She noted that the site is categorised under Category II, with a hillslope ratio under 20 degrees.

The site is located on land between 18-metre and 40-metre contours, with a height of less than 250 feet (76 metres), which is the limit for hillslope development.

-Mkini