Tanjung Bungah landslide inquiry to begin Jan 24

The State Commission of Inquiry is charged with investigating the reasons for the incident which killed 11 people and to recommend legal action against those responsible.

GEORGE TOWN: The highly anticipated Penang State Commission of Inquiry (SCI) into the Tanjung Bungah landslide which killed 11 people will start on Jan 24 until Jan 30.

Tanjung Bungah SCI secretary Ng Wee Kok said the hearing would be held at the City Hall at Jalan Padang Kota Lama here from 9.30am.

“Members of the public are welcome to attend the SCI hearing, subject to the seating capacity of the hall.

“The subsequent dates of the inquiry will be determined by the commission from time to time,” he said in a statement today.

The SCI is officially known as the “Commission of Inquiry into the Worksite Incident at Tanjung Bungah”.

Ng said those summoned by the SCI to testify at the hearing were encouraged to have legal representation.

Those who might have useful information or documents pertaining to the incident could contact the SCI’s conducting officer Mureli Navaratnam at 04-261-8030 during office hours.

The SCI received the assent of the head of state, Governor Abdul Rahman Abbas, on Dec 21.

In the Oct 21 incident, a 10m-high hill slope collapsed next to a construction site not far from the Tunku Abdul Rahman College campus in Tanjung Bungah.

The 11 people killed comprised one Malaysian, four Bangladeshis, three Myanmars, two Indonesians and one Pakistani.

The affordable housing condominium project being developed at the site by a private company was slated to be completed by June 2020. It was to consist of two 49-storey towers of 980 units.

The SCI panel comprises former Bar Council chairman Yeo Yang Poh, geotechnical expert Gue See Sew and forensic geotechnical engineer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Ramli Nasir.

Yeo, who will head the panel, is currently the Penang Appeals Board chairman, while Gue is the key person in advising on the rehabilitation of the illegally cleared Bukit Relau in 2013.

The terms of reference for the SCI are:

• To inquire into the cause or causes of the failure of temporary structures in the worksite incident, including whether the cause or causes were related to the nearby quarry.
• To inquire into whether the failure of said temporary structures, the resulting deaths and injuries, were due to any negligence, recklessness, breach of professional or legal duty, misconduct, or deliberate act or omission on the part of any person, company or authority.
• To recommend any appropriate legal or other action, if necessary, which ought to be taken against any person, company or authority found to be responsible for the failure and loss of lives, and injuries.
• To inquire into whether all necessary approvals for or in respect of the project at the construction site had been properly applied for and obtained in accordance with the applicable laws.
• To recommend any appropriate measures, changes or improvements to the relevant processes and procedures, that ought to be taken or made by any authority or by any other party in order to prevent or avoid the recurrence of similar incidents.
• To make any further or other findings that may be related or incidental to any or all of the above matters. -FMT