Rodziah Ismail (PH-Ampang) said this committee should be given the responsibility of preparing a white paper on the establishment of a hillside management council.

She added that the council’s role should be based on the National Slope Master Plan and it should be responsible for managing, maintaining and restoring hillside and hill slope areas.

Rodziah said her constituency alone has 95 hillsides that have been categorised as dangerous.

“Fifty-six are in the Bukit Antarabangsa state constituency and 39 in the Lembah Jaya state constituency. (Minor) landslides frequently occur in Ampang,” she said while debating the 2024 Supply Bill in the Dewan Rakyat.

In April, natural resources, environment and climate change minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said a total of 221 “critical” slopes in the country should be given attention, especially when the monsoon season arrives.

Nik Nazmi said last December’s Batang Kali landslide, which claimed 31 lives, could have been avoided if due care was given to the development of the area.

In 2018, then deputy prime minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the Road, Drainage and Building Act 1974 would be amended to prevent further tragedies involving development on slopes.