She said this to reporters after visiting the site of a collapsed drain in Jalan Pantai Permai, Kampung Kerinchi this evening.
Zaliha also gave an assurance that Kuala Lumpur is still safe, but urged caution around areas affected by sinkholes.
“We must be careful around sinkhole areas, especially near Jalan Masjid India. Authorities are already ensuring the public stays away from the area.
“But other parts of KL are still safe,” she said.
The drain, which collapsed on Monday and has since been cordoned off by Kuala Lumpur City Hall, is the second of three sinkholes that have appeared in Kuala Lumpur over the past week.
The first involved a 48-year-old woman, Vijayaletchumy, who has not been found since falling into an eight-metre deep sinkhole in Jalan Masjid India last Friday.
Today, another sinkhole appeared in front of Masjid India, likely due to heavy rain, though no casualties were reported.
Meanwhile, Zaliha said her ministry plans to map out Kuala Lumpur to identify areas at high risk of sinkholes and other hazards.
“We will start this as soon as possible, but it will take time to cover the entire city. Priority will be given to areas where sinkholes have recently occurred,” she said.
Zaliha also said her ministry had not yet received the geotechnical report on the incident.
She said much of KL’s buildings and drainage infrastructure are over 30 years old, and suggested that integrity tests were necessary to ensure their safety.
“We will work with the energy transition and water transformation ministry, Indah Water Konsortium and other related parties to address this,” she said.
Zaliha said standard operating procedures for development projects are being reviewed and strengthened to take geotechnical studies into account.
“Even though these studies have mostly been done in hilly areas, we will consider whether there’s a need to include flat areas, especially given the unpredictable weather and heavy rain, which may be making the soil softer and more unstable, leading to such incidents,” she said.