The independent geo-technical team, commissioned by the Penang government to carry out a comprehensive study on hillside development, plans to outline a new set of standard operating procedures (SOP) to govern such projects.

Team head Prof Eric Goh Kok Hoe said his six-member team will study existing guidelines, on-going hillside construction sites and completed development projects before outlining the SOP.

anwar ibrahim speech in penang 061208 lim guan eng "The geo-technical team will outline and make recommendations after looking into all pertaining issues," he told Malaysiakini , following a press conference by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (left) to announce the composition of the geo-technical panel in George Town today.

"The imminent SOP proposal will govern the projects during and after construction to avert tragedies like Bukit Antarabangsa," he said, adding that the team will also look into law enforcement by local authorities and infringement of existing rules.

Currently, local councils impose seven conditions such as access to public road and drainage systems, hill cutting, site hoarding, temporary drains and retention ponds, for developers to comply with in carrying out hillside development.

Stop work orders are issued if developers are found to have flouted the rules and the orders are revoked only after remedial measures have been carried out.

Sloppy routine checks, maintenance

The professor, who heads an engineering research unit - the Amquest Research Cluster - in Universiti Sains Malaysia, hinted that the SOP will include enforcement of developers' liability for completed projects given that most hillside tragedies take place after completion.

landslide bukit antarabangsa car He cited Saturday's Bukit Antarabangsa tragedy, the Highland Towers tragedy in December 1993, and the Paya Terubong landslide incident in Penang in November 1997 as examples of hillside destruction that occurred years after development had taken place.

He indicated that sloppy routine checks and maintenance works among others on water supply pipelines, the natural water dispersal system and soil erosion, could be the main technical reasons behind the tragedies.

"These tragedies occurred when the hillside soil gave way due to erosion caused by strong currents of water flow," said Goh.

He said developers, housing managements and local authorities share a responsibility to ensure that the projects are safe for occupants upon completion.

He said consumers will be cheated if the developers and local authorities cannot be held liable for such tragedies after spending hard-earned cash to acquire comfortable homes believing that the premises are safe.

'Emulate Hong Kong'

Private engineering consultant Gue See Sew, who had been part of the inquiry team into the Highland Towers tragedy, is a member of the Penang geo-technical team.

Besides carrying out inspections at current and completed project sites, the geo-technical team will also verify private consultancy reports submitted by project developers, to detect flaws and make recommendations on remedial action.

The team will start work tomorrow with a meeting with Penang Island Municipal Council president Zainal Rahim Seman, who said the independent team can also help the council to identify and rectify its shortcomings.

Gue suggested that Malaysia should adopt the geo-technical standards applied for hillside developments in Hong Kong, which is similar to Penang in geographic dimensions.

"Hong Kong has so much hillside development, but you hardly hear about tragedies," he said.

Lim, meanwhile, called on the federal government to explain the reasons for its ban on hillside development, questioning the sincerity of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak on issuing a blanket rule.

"If the federal government wants to ban hillside development altogether, it should have done so immediately after the Highland Towers tragedy," he said, insisting that Penang would rather adopt a sustainable development approach.

The last major landslide to take place on Penang island was when tonnes of soil gave way and collapsed from Bukit Kukus in Paya Terubong, burying and damaging at least 15 vehicles, including a factory bus, parked below the hill.

A study carried out by a geo-technical research unit under the Works Ministry about 10 years ago had earmarked the Paya Terubong-Balik Pulau hillside as a landslide prone area unsuitable for high-rise, high-density township development.

Despite this warning, the Paya Terubong hillsides are dotted with high-rise residential and commercial flats.