Centre for Environment, Technology and Development chairman Gurmit Singh said that landslides were common occurrences and most of them could easily be avoided if professionals, developers and civil servants were responsible enough to carry out their duties with care and diligence.
Meanwhile, president of the Bukit Bandaraya House Owners Association Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman said the Damansara area was also prone to landslides.
The latest incident was on Thursday when the retaining wall behind the
Construction work of a three-storey bungalow on the hilltop could be the cause of yesterday's landslide.
The project has been under construction for the past year and Jagathesan believed that piling works, coupled with weak soil conditions and heavy rainfall, had contributed to the landslide.
He also questioned why the geological firm appointed by the previous state government to monitor geological conditions in Bukit Antarabangsa had failed to detect a possible landslide.
"Surely the possibility of such a major earth movement could not have escaped their notice."
We can only hope that the new Selangor State Government will hold firm against the wanton destruction of our hillsides by developers. Hundreds and even thousands of unsuspecting residents that have put their trust in planning authorities will continue to be casualties if we don’t put a stop to such dangerous developments. It is time that the public stand up and give full support to the Selangor State Government. Let the onus of proof on safety of hillside development be fully with the developer. Let town planners not compromise on any development to fatten the profits of developers
Unfortunately for residents in
I AM INCLINED TO THINK IT IS TOO MANY DIRTY
HANDS IN THE POT.
And what consolation is there for the many other property perched on hill tops as well as those at its base with the government, badawi saying, "Freeze all hillslope projects, No more hillslopes development!?" Easy to say all these 'stop, stop, stop' now when a major disaster happens. Like in BolehLand, it will soon be forgotten, buried like a landslide.
ReplyDeleteIt's sloppy slimy attitude of developers and authorities that has caused enough of uncalled tragedies. Thank goodness noone has blamed 'allah' yet?
see 'slip sliding away attitude' at www.jonathan66-my.blotspot.com
As Dr Benjamin George from Highland Towers said "this nightmare will never end."
ReplyDelete1st - Federal govt say "Out of our jurisdiction, state matter"
2nd - State govt say "Have to approve lah, developer passed all the requirements, got permits from all Jabatans"
3rd - Jabatan eg. IKRAM say "LULUS!"
So ... after some hands have been greased, construction complete, developer guarantees buyers "no problem, we use the latest technology", years pass by, memories fade, more rain falls, ... Tragedy again!
PM announces - yet again, "Enough! No more hillslope development"
And ... (you can go back and start from point 1 again)
The reason why it happens again, and again ... the whole system is screwed up. You can start from the very beginning to the end, and you will find huge problems at each level. From federal planning laws to state guidelines to legislation, no counter checks on these so called 'experts' at the approving Jabatans, no remedial actions, accountability, liability, and on and on and on, heck you'd think they are building banana tree huts in this country.
Time to clean up the act, Minister of Housing, as we are heading into 2020.
i fully agree with you zorro. why dont the residents sue the people who authorized the buildings?
ReplyDeletejulian
'Centre for Environment, Technology and Development chairman Gurmit Singh said that landslides were common occurrences and most of them could easily be avoided if "professionals, developers and civil servants" were responsible enough to carry out their duties with care and diligence.''
ReplyDeleteNow lets see who was he talking about....
1)PROFESSIONALS... Malaysia got professional meh, where got professional, professional con man, i beleive, but no professionals.. defination of a professional would be, A PERSON OF INTEGRITY, ETHICS, DUTIFULLY carry out all his duties dilligently, WILL NOT COVER UP CORRUPT PRACTISES & WILL DEFINATLY BLOW THE WHISTLE IF Standard safeguards are neglecte... SEE WHAT I MEAN.
2) DEVELOPERS.. WHO THESE bastards, they are the most greedy self centered, selfish bastards to ever wail the earth, their GOD IS MONEY, LIVES BE DAMNED, their motto in life ' IN MALAYSIA, EVERYTHING CAN BE KOW TIMed" no problem, under table money to those holy buggers.
3) CIVIL SERVANTS... what servants these are the focking crooks of them all, vultures, bastards of the lowes standards, who can be bouth with a bag of peanuts. Thats what our civil servants have become, their motto in life, 'I am holier than thou', This is my LAND, I AM TUAN, I AM NAPOLEAN, ' mana duit kopi saya", when shit hits the fan, FILES GO MISSING, MOI???, bukan saya, masa tu saya cuti, act of god, what about your duty, KITA SUDAH CHECK ITU TEMPAT BARU MINGGU LALU, their version of checking would be, go to the area with the developer, collect envelop, step out of the a/cond car, go to bush, piss on it, stamp on the ground, and 'sudah check", there are others who do inspection, through telepathy, the sleep on their desk- play poker on computer,air-cond office mah, outside PANAS MAH, sweat a lot, stink up the gucci under clothing, and shoes mah, than write report, sudah inspect, soil samples, go outside the office, dig a small hole take sample send to chemistry dept. ' SAMPLE DARI BUKIT ANTARA BANGSA.thats what I am talking about. I think heads must roll now CLEAN UP THE WHOLE AMPANG MUNCIPALITY, SACK THE the whole lot of donkeys from the D.G. TO THE toilet cleaners. security guards, buang juga. get new professionals to run the show. you see than all the other state civil servants will follow, its no use sacking the heads of depts. you have to select people from the middle management, and the bottom feeders too, JUST PUT THEM ALL INTO A HALL AND THROW A STONE THOSE WHO CATCH THE BALLS, GET PRESENTS, THEY GET TO STAY, THE REST, pack up and get the fock out.
Prevention is better than cure. While I note the good intentions by the new ruling Selangor government, may I know what measures has been taken for those houses or apartments/condos that has already been build and going to be approved by the municipal council such as MPAJ? My question is whether the bad condition was discussed & transferred???
ReplyDeleteI have a concern because the apartment I bought shows cracks all over. It's at Block B, Pandan Perdana Lake View Apartment, K.L. I have written to MPAJ, Land Exco & my constituent YB to ask the safety condition of this building but to date, no answers has been given.
I have proof of letters & emails from MPAJ copied to the Yang Dipertua Dato Mohammad Yacob to show that at initial stage, MPAJ hold the developer responsible and then later confirms the other as the management has been transferred from the developer owned management team to a new entity.
One thing is confirmed by MPAJ - Jika ia melibatkan struktur bangunan tiada tempoh kecacatan.
Now that's the question I am asking!
If the structure is Ok, then it is safe for me to occupy and as such, if the building collapses one day, we know who to send the bill to!
I hope you can agree prevention is better than cure! We should have programs to check the living ones instead of praying for the lost ones.
We should have MPAJ who are at tax payers cost to have preventive measures!!!
These pictures expose the corruption and stupidity of the Barisan, especially Umno. These pictures are enough to set the tone for the next election. Throw out these corrupt bastards! The message is clear. Badawi said 'enough is enough'. We are telling Badawi and Najib and their corrupt ilk: Enough is enough.
ReplyDeleteNow you see, with all this talk, who want to be Mayor of Kuala Lumpur or Municipality Council President? How to make money in KL if cannot develop hill slope property? No more flat land ma?
ReplyDeleteDoes it matter if a few people die? After all is it not more important for these guys to make money? So what is the incentive left for joining UMNO for?
Developers can build. The authorities
ReplyDeletecan approve. We DO NOT have to buy.
Sad
The builders community are screaming ..."Acts of GOD"!
ReplyDeletePlease, don't blame GOD for everything that goes wrong in this country.
He's not gonna like it, he will scream back!
Btw how do you tell the taxi driver here...
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=2099985188&view=att&th=11e0d59d96b9feb1&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw
Hey Uncle Z!
ReplyDeleteThe vet who died was a relative of mine. And I've posted on the crap job the rescue squad did and exposed some lies our fave gas chamber participant, Selangor Police Chief has been saying. The media is as fucked up.
Please do check out the post and let others know if you will.
http://starinacircle.blogspot.com/
What was written by artic turban is all so true when will see the day we can hang these monkeys in the local councils.
ReplyDeleteWhat we lack in natural disasters we make up with man-made disaster. When will we ever learn???
ReplyDeletein UK, if a citizen is injured accidently or even intentionally stepping into a open man cover, they can sue the council for negligence and improper maintenance of public amenities. most cases always wins in court due to reason of poor maintenance and enforcement. but is not rampant there.
ReplyDeletehere, we see a gross lack of enforcement. before anything can be seriously done, someone have to died before any action is taken. of course, then the finger pointing starts.
while i give credit to those few civil servants who really performed, a majority of them are capable of the flimsiness excuses and answers and just damn fornicating lazy. this simply boils down to the management and administration and the way they conduct the business of the day. just take a drive around town and look at the conditions in some of our public utilities and aminities. the better maintained areas of course where the dignitaries, embassies and politicians are.
To Julian,
ReplyDeleteThe law states that the local government is not accountable and not liable for anything like this, even though they had approved it all. Which is why we are pushing for the laws to be changed to protect the People.
To Turban,
All these projects, including over a hundred new and approved hillslope projects, were approved by the Previous state government. The new Selangor state government does not permit any new applications for hillslope development. For more info, go to www.nolandslide.org
To Owner of Block B Pandan Perdana,
Bring all your correspondence with MPAJ and set an appointment in person with your local state assemblyman. Your letter to your YB may not have reached him/her. As I'd mentioned earlier, MPAJ (the old one as I know of it anyways) was not effective ... remember, they are not liable in the court of law so the buck will not stop there. Developers are the ones held accountable whenever anything like this happens, but they can (1)close company (2)change name of co (3)declare bankruptcy (4)and a host of other creative ways to avoid responsibility. You see the problem ....
Again, we must strongly urge for the laws to be changed. They have to be changed to hold someone A. accountable, B. liable for compensation (or introduce jail time, when there's death caused, C. assurance about maintenance or remedial action for the entire lifespan of the building (no not only 2 years - heck my vacuum has a longer guarantee period!), otherwise developer don't get permit to build.
Finally, we must push the MB (who inherited all this crap from the last one) to correct all that is obviously wrong with the system to avoid more unspeakable (and avoidable) tragedies.
We know the new MB has the will, but we must resolve to support and provide knowledge when necessary, to put an end to an old system that did not protect us, the regular home owners. The old system was perpetuated to protect those who installed it. Time we implement an intelligent system.
Together, we can do it.
Ampang resident.
And it is now the rainy season. The people and their properties in the vicinity of the landslide are in real danger. What a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteThe affected people should do well to remember who approved those projects. Remember it well in the next General Election.
julian,
ReplyDeleteuseless to sue the authorities. in the hughlands tower case, court ruled that they are immune. by giving such a ruling, the courts have effectively sanctioned such murderous acts. what do you expect from the judiciary, anyway?
Forgotten "CORRECT CORRECT CORRECT"?
Uncle Zorro,
ReplyDeleteMy plan of going home to my lovely country is ruined :(
My sincere condelences to all those whose have family members that were killed during the recent tragedy. Now, come the big question ? Who will compensate those house owners that are affected in one way or another ? What about those houses and condos in the surrounding areas ? There are just too many unanswerable questions whenever we faced such a situation. Thus, the local laws should be ammended to include a clause of responsibility. The people who have purchase any approved project by the local authority have the right to sue them for compensation if any of this kind of disaster ever happen again.
ReplyDeleteIf the trouble occur only once, than they may plead ignorance BUT to have it happen for umpteem times is just plain stupidity. For experience is our best teacher and yet after so many incidences, they local authority have not learned. They continue to blantantly approved such developments in the name of progress. I think the greeds and corruptions have so blinded those approving authorities that money is their God now. Let us be real angry with such peoples and know that change must come and can no longer be tolerated as a stitch in time saves nine. Just look at KL draft plan and you will find that those in power just know how to approve whatever they think is right. To them, they are just doing the things right and absolutely not doing the right things, if you get my drift. Thanks Bernard for your unceasing efforts in wanting to see change and change we will have if we pursue it whole heartedly using whatever talents given unto us.