Penang executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow has come to the defence of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, saying that calls for him to resign over the deadly landslide in Tanjung Bungah were “unfair.”

He said the incident, which occurred on Saturday morning, was related to poor site management, rather than illegal hillside development or other issues brought up by several Penang-based groups.

The groups called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the incident, and even threatened to pull support for the state government come the 14th General Election.

“They have even called for the chief minister to resign because of a site incident. Is this fair?”

“Site accidents occur every day in the country, does this mean that a lot of ministers will be out of job?” the state DAP chief asked at a press conference today.

According to Chow, the state government maintains that a lack of oversight on the part of the developer caused the slope failure, which took place during soil nailing of the temporary slope.

“The consulting engineer has a lot of explaining to do on why the slope was cut in that manner,” Chow said.

Seri Delima assemblyperson RSN Rayer echoed the sentiment, and accused BN component parties of using the tragedy as "campaign fodder" for the upcoming 14th General Election. 

"Why was there not a similar call made for the Prime Minister or the respective minister to resign when the Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah fire in Kuala Lumpur recently claimed the lives of 21 students and two teachers?" he asked. 

Today, the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) was directed by the state government to lodge a police report so that appropriate action could be taken against the project developer and contractor if found to be negligent.

The chief minister also formed a State Commission of Inquiry to probe the incident.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment had today expressed its “disappointment” with the state government for allowing the housing project to continue without obtaining the necessary federal approvals.

MBPP mayor Maimunah Sharif, however, insisted that the development complied with state safety guidelines.