Lim Mah Hui said the proposed MJM project was on Class 4 land, with slopes greater than 35 degrees. He said this meant that it was classified as an environmentally sensitive area with disaster risk.

“Under the Penang Structure Plan 2020, no form of development is allowed on such land,” he said in a statement.

He added that a technical review of the site by consulting firm Zeezy Global had found that the proposed development project was on a hill, with heights ranging from 40m to 140m above sea level and almost 50% of slopes having a gradient of more than 25 degrees. Some areas had gradients as steep as 40 to 50 degrees, he added.

This was against the Penang Structure Plan, which defines sensitive hill land as land that is more than 76m above sea level with gradients of over 25 degrees, he said.

Lim added that existing gunite slopes in Miami Green were not designed for additional loading, and that the exertion of loads at the upper slopes could endanger the residents.

“The disturbance from the construction could affect the integrity of the existing slope. No assurance has been made regarding risks of landslides or slope failures during and after construction.

“For the above reasons, the technical review concluded that the proposed MJM project poses imminent danger to safety and lives of the public. No building plan or commencement of work has been approved,” he said.

He called on the state government to learn from the Granito tragedy, which saw 11 workers killed last October.

“If the local and state authorities do not have the technical capacity to implement, monitor and enforce the present hill site guidelines, a moratorium on hill site development should be imposed until such time that this problem is resolved.

“The public should not be put at risk anymore. Eleven lives have been lost and hopefully not in vain.”