The construction site disaster that occurred on Saturday morning was a tragedy that has struck a raw nerve in society. Within hours, concerned citizens had voiced out their anxiety in various ways – some constructive and some critical. Unfortunately, many have based their judgments on a lot of premature postulations formed by various media outlets and, of course, perpetuated by political opportunists.
In tragedies, facts and thorough understanding in its entirety is direly needed. We simply cannot afford to succumb to this unhealthy guessing game and prolonged finger-pointing. It is not fair to the victims and detrimental to progress.
On Oct 22, Penang Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) director Rosdee Yaakob affirmed that the landslide was in fact a construction accident. Reiterating this, Lee Lam Thye who is the current chairman of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) said “the incident was an example of how safety measures were being disregarded at construction sites” and added that assessments should have been made immediately, when or if soil erosion was identified.
DOSH has identified approximately 16,800 construction sites in Malaysia. Based on the occupational accidents report as of July 2017, there were 2,430 accidents and 143 fatalities recorded.
Such occupational accidents are most likely due to an almost non-existent safety culture and non-compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (Osha) 1994. According to DOSH, the construction and manufacturing industry accounted for 37% and 22% of all fatal injuries. Under Osha, the construction sites are responsible for ensuring that safe practices are administered within sites.
A number of citizens and members of civil society have made several hasty conclusions by producing sweeping statements like “development on hill land above 250 feet and/or with a slope gradient beyond 25 degrees should not be allowed”, thus implying that the Tanjung Bungah development was a hill-slope development and influencing others to believe that the Penang state government failed to comply with guidelines.
In a recent statement by Tan Yean Chin who is the current president of the Malaysian Institution of Engineers (an institution that has over 40,000 members and is affiliated with several international engineering organisations and field experts), he stated that based on observations, “the Tanjung Bungah Development was not built on a hill slope, rather on the land adjacent to the hill slope”.
This debunks the perception that the project was a “hill-site development”. The project involved “slopes with a gradient of about 20 degrees”, classifying the site as a Category 2 slope (15 to 25 degrees) and thus categorising it as low land (tanah rendah) and not hill land (tanah bukit). Furthermore, the land contour of the project area varied between 18 and 40 metres, which is well within acceptable limits.
To date, the Penang state government and Penang Island City Council have taken all necessary steps to facilitate crisis management.
The Penang Island City Council lodged a police report against the consultant of the affordable housing project, and a stop-work order was immediately issued. The building contractor and consultant experts of the project were blacklisted and confidential documents were declassified.
A State Commission of Inquiry (SCI) has been established and will take on the tedious task of determining the cause of failure. It will also study and propose improvements for implementation, and recommend just punishment for those responsible.
Heading the SCI will be Yeo Yang Poh who is the former president of the Malaysian Bar Council, and two other highly esteemed geotechnical experts: Ramli Nazir from UTM and Gue See Sew.
Members of the public must be made aware that Penang has stricter hill slope development guidelines than the rest of the country. Contrary to what is perceived at the moment, the Penang state government does not allow any developments on hill land above 76 metres – very different from the current national guidelines limits which are set at 300 metres.
It definitely is counterproductive to compare this construction accident to past tragedies like the Highland Towers in Selangor and the landslides that occur quite frequently in Cameron Highlands. The current slew of accusations is misleading and deceptive.
Moreover, without knowing the right facts, we will not be able to make well-informed decisions or facilitate fairness to uphold social justice and hold those responsible accountable for the innocent lives lost.
There is a difference between fair game and playing games. It would be best for all quarters to refrain from commenting further and to allow investigations to be carried out. Let justice prevail in all its forms and let the truth be known.
Syerleena Abdul Rashid is a councillor for the Penang Island City Council.
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.