KUALA LUMPUR: "We told you so." Among engineers, the fragility of the slopes in Hulu Kelang, has been ringing alarm bells for years. In conference after conference, paper after academic paper, they had warned that the instability of the soil on the hillsides of one of the most sought-after residential areas in the Klang Valley was a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Repeatedly pointed out, the lessons of the Dec 11, 1993 collapse of one of the three blocks of the Highland Towers condomimium in Bukit Antarabangsa, which claimed 48 lives and left hundreds injured, have not been learnt.
All in, 13 landslides have occurred in and around Bukit Antarabangsa since then.
The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) blamed the lack of systematic regulatory measures on the safety of hillside development as a root cause of landslides.
IEM vice-president Tan Yean Chim said it had in 2001 forwarded recommendations outlined in a position paper titled "Mitigating the Risk of Landslides on Hill-Site Development" to the government.
"We hope the government can take note of the paper's contents and seriously look at adopting the recommendations, especially on the 'Dangerous Hillside Order' on existing slopes.
"IEM is also ever ready to offer the services of its 22,000 mem-bership to allay the growing pub-lic fear for the safety of lives and properties on hillslopes," Tan said.
In the paper, IEM said among the chief causes of landslides were ineffective legislation and guidelines on slope failure mitigation, poor engineering practice, lack of maintenance, and inadequate enforcement and monitoring by regulatory agencies and authorities.
Expressing the standard response to what has been common knowledge in the profession for some time, geotechnical engineer Datuk Dr Ramli Mohamad said "people got excited for a while and then forgot the whole thing".
"In the past, I, like many others, had offered solutions. No one heeded them.
"As long as there is gravity there will be landslides. It will pull down earth. Water will make it worse as the ground becomes heavier and the soil weakens. We live in the tropics where rainfall is high.
"We must be very careful when we encroach into hillslopes. We cannot blame mother nature."
Ramli said the planning and designing of projects, not only at hilltops but the bottom as well, were critical.
"What we do at the top of hillslopes affects what is at the foot. Sometimes, the issue becomes complex owing to land ownership. Who is responsible for which area of land?
"It costs money to do anything. The government has to take responsiblility by enforcing regulations and legislation."
Ramli had six years ago proposed that subsurface drainage be considered as a means to maintain the stability of slopes, particularly in the Bukit Antarabangsa area. Among his proposals were the building of strong foundations, retaining walls and proper drainage Periodic soil tests should be carried out and "unscrupulous devegetation" prevented.
On Nov 16, the New Sunday Times reported that a study of slopes in Hulu Kelang found over a hundred landslide scars, with most of them unremedied and having the potential of slipping again.
The study, commissioned by the Public Works Department's Slope Engineering Branch, found a high likelihood of "fatal slope failures" in its mapping of the Ampang district.
With so much evidence of slope instability, civil engineer Sheikh Abdul Wahed Rahim of Jurutera Perunding GEA (M) Sdn Bhd did not mince words.
"Everybody is just talking and not doing anything about it. We are not doing the right things with the rules and regulations.
"Slopes are becoming too high-tech and it appears developers don't seem to have any idea about landslide prevention.
"The basics are not adhered to and a proper survey is not done before an area is developed."
He called on all concerned to pay attention to the design, construction and maintenance aspects of hillslope development. Plastic surgeon Dr Benjamin George, 80, who survived the Highland Towers tragedy, believed that landslides would continue to happen as long as the authorities did not have the will to stop them.
Dr George is the Highland Towers owners and residents committee chairman.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment