Heads must roll following landslide tragedy

 

From Kua Kia Soong

First, I must offer our deepest condolences to all the families of the victims of this latest needless landslide tragedy at Batang Kali. Our hearts go out to those who have been adversely affected by this tragedy.

After this horrific tragedy, I am surprised at the prime minister’s response that there has been no decision yet to form an investigation committee.

The local government and development minister too was quick to point out that the campsites were unlicenced, as if they are the main culprit in this tragedy. Typical of Malaysian politicians, he was asking the wrong question.

There are still no guidelines for campsites despite the hoopla by the government about promoting nature tourism.

The relevant question to ask here is how was it that the local and state authorities allowed such a steep earth hillslope to be cut in the first place and whether adequate geological testing, piling, and reinforcement of the slope had been adhered to when the road was constructed.

Furthermore, an investigation is needed into the quality and regularity of hill slope maintenance by the local authorities.

Only a few days ago, we were informed that there are more than a thousand slopes throughout the country that have been assessed as “hotspots” during the present monsoon season.

What steps are being taken to warn, inform, protect, evacuate those living in the vicinity of these disasters which are waiting to happen?

A definite need for an immediate RCI

This latest landslide has claimed the greatest number of lives (at least 24) and it is the regular recurrence of such landslides that calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to be established.

We are reminded of the Tanjung Bungah landslide that killed a dozen workers in October 2017, and the 15 Orang Asli villagers who were killed in the landslide at Pos Dipang in 1996. There have been countless other disasters in recent years.

Civil society has been warning the authorities against allowing such so-called “development” of hillslopes and other environmentally sensitive areas for decades, but they have carried on regardless.

The Penang state authorities even called the concerned NGOs “irrational” for voicing out against such hillslope developments.

Those who have followed these dubious projects will know that in most cases, corners have been cut, the relevant departments have been negligent, and corruption has been suspect.

Recent corruption cases have revealed that some Malaysian politicians are allegedly in the pockets of the powerful developers.

In other cases, environmental impact assessments (EIA) have been compromised or developers in league with the authorities have avoided having to do EIAs by simply sub-dividing the project into smaller parcels.

Our EIA regulations certainly need to be more stringent and plug such loopholes that devious developers and politicians have been taking advantage of for years.

After the flood disaster last year, then opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had called for then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to immediately form a RCI into the tragedy.

To get to the root causes of the latest Batang Kali landslide tragedy, nothing short of an RCI can be a lesson for all future hillslope projects if we are to avoid these tragedies from ever occurring again.

It goes without saying that the report of the RCI must be publicly disclosed and the recommendations religiously adhered to.

Heads must roll, rules on hillslope development overhauled

In other words, it is irrational not to immediately form an RCI over the latest landslide disaster at Batang Kali.

Once we have identified those responsible for the negligence and/or corruption, heads must roll.

More importantly, the whole system governing hillslope development, especially stringent EIA conditions and regular maintenance must be thoroughly overhauled.

There must be transparent engagement with all citizen stakeholders, and a rigorous professionalism in all engineering projects with stability and users’ safety top of the agenda. - FMT

Kua Kia Soong is a human rights defender and a former MP.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.