Putrajaya has no plans to form a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate the recent Batang Kali landslide, which has been said to be the second deadliest disaster in Malaysia.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Armizan Ali said there was no need to form an RCI for this matter.
“(This is because) the technical departments under the National Slope Management Inter-Agency Committee is able to carry out a thorough forensic investigation to identify the reason for the slope’s failure and suggest mitigation steps that should be taken,” Armizan (above) said.
He said this in a written parliamentary reply today, in response to Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng who had asked if the government should form an RCI to thoroughly probe the Batang Kali landslide.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) had first made the call for an RCI to investigate the incident on the day the landslide occurred.
“Time and time again we have been warning against allowing earthworks and other forms of activities on highlands and hillslopes which are environmentally sensitive areas.
“The root causes of the tragedy must be investigated and publicly disclosed,” the environmental group had said.
Around 2.30am on Dec 16, 2022, a landslide nearly 300m long and 70m high hit a campsite at Jalan Genting-Batang Kali.
Thirty-one people were killed while 61 survived. Eighteen of those killed were adults while 13 were children.
The Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) has since said the landslide is Malaysia’s second-worst disaster in terms of fatalities, after the Highland Towers condominium collapse in 1993 which claimed 48 lives.
In the aftermath of the landslide, concerns about camping regulations and licensing were raised.
The government has recently said it has prepared a draft of guidelines for campsites to be finalised by the end of April this year. - Mkini
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