Pressure group Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (Aliran) has called for an immediate stop to all hillslope development projects in Penang following the Bukit Kukus killer landslide that claimed seven lives last Friday.

"All plans that involve construction or development on hillslopes must be reviewed for workers’ safety measures, mitigation measures to ensure the stability of slopes, and environmental damage and impact," Aliran said in a statement today.

The NGO said it was appalled at the loss of workers' lives in the tragic incident, which comes almost a year after the hillslope collapse which claimed 11 lives at the Granito housing project site in Tanjung Bungah.

"While it is unclear what exactly happened at Bukit Kukus, the recent landslide does raise several issues.

"One is the vulnerability of construction workers who were, in this incident, migrant workers from Myanmar, Indonesia and Bangladesh," the group said.

"It highlighted the issue of their safety, especially as a stop work order in the site had been recently issued when 14 concrete beams came tumbling down.

"We cannot help but ask about site safety regulations to ensure the safety of the workers. What were the safety measures being taken in Bukit Kukus? Could the deaths of these victims have been avoided?"

Aliran pointed out that another NGO, Penang Hill Watch group, had previously raised safety issues in hillslope clearings in the Bukit Kukus area to the state government and local authorities.

It added that the Penang government had reportedly said that soil erosion mitigation measures had not been carried out after construction sites inspections across the state.

"If safety guidelines for hillslope development are not being adhered to, and if enforcement authorities are not functioning effectively, it becomes simply unethical to continue with hillslope development, because not taking steps to guarantee the safety of workers places their lives at risk.

"We cannot and must not do this.

"Given this, Aliran calls for an immediate stop to hill-slope development projects, whether residential or infrastructural," said the NGO.

"While the harm done to the victims cannot be undone, Aliran calls for immediate and adequate support and compensation to those injured and to families of those killed in the landslide irrespective of the status of the workers ie documented or otherwise," it added.

An overnight downpour led to the landslide on Oct 19, burying four containers used to house workers at the Bukit Kukus paired road construction site.

Earlier on Oct 11, 14 concrete beams used in the construction of a 600-metre elevated road linking Jalan Bukit Kukus to Jalan Tun Sardon had also collapsed.