In a nutshell, the SCI will determine what caused the temporary worksite slope to collapse and decide if it was a worksite accident, among others.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the SCI had three months to present their findings and complete a report.
“I will present this proposal to Governor Abdul Rahman Abbas for his assent and will later gazette it. The commencement date will be made known later,” he said in a press conference in Komtar today.
The five proposed terms of reference (TOR) for the SCI are as follows:
- to ascertain the cause of the failure of the temporary worksite slope at the site
- to ascertain who should be held responsible for the failure of the temporary work site slope,
- to come up with recommendations and appropriate action, which includes legal action against those held responsible,
- to examine the process and procedures undertaken towards the approval of the project, especially if it had met set guidelines and to give recommendations on possible improvements to the guidelines, and
- to re-examine the matters above related to the project, including if the project was built on flat land or a hillslope, and also to determine if the quarry site was the key reason in the failure of the temporary work site slope or was it merely a worksite accident.
The SCI will follow the same format as those set up for the Menara Umno, Jalan Macalister building antennae collapse and the Second Penang Bridge ramp collapse in 2013, that claimed the lives of three people.
The proposed Tanjung Bungah SCI has recognised the victim count as 11, comprising one Malaysian, four Bangladeshis, three Myanmars, two Indonesians, and one Pakistani.
Lim said the SCI will conduct a full and thorough investigation to ascertain the actual cause of the landslide at the worksite and action to be taken on those responsible.
The SCI will be chaired by former Bar Council chairman Yeo Yang Poh, with geotechnical expert Gue See Sew and forensic geotechnical engineer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Prof Ramli Nazir.
Yeo is currently the Penang Appeals Board chairman, while Gue is the key person in advising the rehabilitation of the illegally-cleared Bukit Relau in 2013.