Kelvin Kuan, who is attached to Soil Mechanic Sdn Bhd, told the state commission of inquiry (SCI) into the fatal landslide incident at the site of an affordable housing project, that he had sent a Whatsapp message to a representative of the main contractor sometime in July last year, and asked to cover up the slope.
“I informed him to cover up the slope with plastic sheets. This was after a sliding happened.
“However, there was no reply from the main contractor,” he said in response to a question from conducting officer N Mureli on the contents of his message to the main contractor.
On whether he had raised concerns on the safety of workers, Kuan said he did not do so as that was a matter for the main contractor to handle.
Asked if he was aware of any excavation work in the vicinity, Kuan said these were ongoing when his team was carrying out their slope stabilisation works, and that such work was going on about 15 metres away from the slope they were working on.
Kuan was the third witness to testify in the inquiry, which entered its second day today.
Earlier today, Soil Mechanic’s director Cheah Wing How, who resumed his testimony, told the inquiry that his company had initially proposed and quoted 362 soil nails to stabilise the slope, when they worked on the site in 2016.
However, Cheah said the consultant had instead asked for only 49 soil nails to be used.
To a suggestion by Penang Island City Council (MBPP) lawyer M Murgan that the number of 49 soil nails was inadequate at the site, and could have contributed to the failure of the bottom part of the slope in May last year, Cheah agreed, saying it was not adequate.
He added that they proceeded with the request despite knowing the 49 soil nails were inadequate because “as the subcontractor, we just followed the instructions of the consultant”.
Cheah said this could have been one of the factors which contributed to the failure of the slope.
However, he disagreed with Murgan’s suggestion that all the soil nails drilled at the site had failed, stating that many of the soil nails were still intact.
Aside from Kuan and Cheah, Patrick Loh, who is the executive director of a quarry site nearby the project, also testified.
The inquiry resumes tomorrow with a site visit to the affected area in Tanjung Bungah.
In the incident at the Lengkok Lembah Permai project site last October, a landslide resulted in the collapse of a retaining wall on the construction site and buried 11 workers.
The deceased comprised a local man, five Bangladeshis, two Indonesians, two Myanmars and a Pakistani.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had previously said the inquiry 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.
Apart from Yeo, the inquiry also comprises geotechnical expert Gue See Sew and forensic geotechnical engineer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Prof Ramli Nasir.
Penang landslide: Soil unstable as early as June, says expert