TANAH RUNTUH LAGI: APA KATA PIHAK BERWAJIB

*Pembangunan Lereng Bukit Tidak Dibenarkan: MB Selangor pada 28/08/08

*Lulus projek tanah tinggi hak negeri: Timb Menteri Hamzah Zainuddin

*Nasec kesal amaran awal tidak diendah: Prof Roslan UiTM

*History Of Landslides In Hulu Klang

*Landslides Are Preventable, Says Geo-technical Engineering Authority

*10 Hari Untuk Ketahui Sama Ada Kawasan Bukit Antarabangsa Selamat Atau Tidak, Kata MB Selangor

Lulus projek tanah tinggi hak negeri
utusanonline
KUALA LUMPUR 8 Dis. - Semua kuasa untuk meluluskan projek pembangunan dan perumahan termasuk di kawasan tanah tinggi yang berisiko adalah di bawah kerajaan negeri.

Timbalan Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin berkata, kementeriannya tidak mempunyai hak untuk berbuat demikian kerana itu hak kerajaan negeri iaitu di bawah bidang kuasa pihak berkuasa tempatan (PBT).

"Ini termasuklah projek-projek perumahan di kawasan lereng bukit dan cerun berisiko tinggi. Kami tidak ada hak untuk meluluskannya walaupun ia terletak di Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur," katanya ketika dihubungi Utusan Malaysia di sini hari ini.

Beliau diminta mengulas kejadian tanah runtuh di Jalan Bukit Mewah, Bukit Antarabangsa kelmarin yang dipercayai berlaku disebabkan oleh projek perumahan yang dijalankan di kawasan lereng bukit dan cerun.

Dalam kejadian pada pukul 3.50 pagi itu, empat terbunuh, 14 cedera manakala seorang lagi dikhuatiri terperangkap setelah 14 banglo di kawasan seluas empat hektar tertimbus.

Hamzah berkata, projek perumahan di Bukit Antarabangsa diluluskan oleh Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ) termasuk dari segi pelan susun atur, pelan bangunan dan kerja-kerja pembangunan.

"Tugas kementerian hanya memberi lesen kepada syarikat pemaju hartanah untuk membina projek perumahan dan menjual rumah-rumah yang telah siap dibina," ujarnya.

Bagaimanapun, beliau berkata, Kerajaan Pusat akan mewujudkan Pelan Induk Kecerunan yang membolehkan kementeriannya memantau projek pembangunan di cerun berisiko tinggi.

"Kami berharap semua pihak berkaitan akan mematuhi garis panduan yang ditetapkan oleh pelan tersebut jika mereka hendak menjalankan projek pembangunan di cerun-cerun," katanya.

Menurutnya, semua projek pembangunan di kawasan cerun juga perlu mematuhi laporan kajian Kesan Penilaian Alam Sekitar (EIA) terlebih dahulu.

Nasec kesal amaran awal tidak diendah

Utusanonline
SHAH ALAM 8 Dis. – Pusat Penyelidikan Tanah Runtuh Negara (Nasec) Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) kesal kerana amaran awal pihaknya mengenai kemungkinan berlaku tanah runtuh di Bukit Antarabangsa, Hulu Klang tidak diendahkan.

Pengarahnya, Profesor Dr. Roslan Zainal Abidin (gambar) berkata, pihaknya sebelum ini pernah melaporkan bahawa hujan sekurang-kurang tiga hari berturut-turut serta ketibaan musim peralihan monsun akan menjadi antara penyumbang utama risiko tanah runtuh di kawasan berkenaan.

Beliau berkata, berdasarkan kajian ke atas sampel tanah berhampiran pangsapuri Highland Towers dan Bukit Antarabangsa yang pernah runtuh sebelum ini, para penyelidik mendapati berlaku pergerakan air bawah tanah di kedua-dua kawasan itu selepas hujan turun selama tiga hari berturut-turut.

Selain itu, tambah beliau, bulan Mac, November dan Disember setiap tahun merupakan tempoh kritikal disebabkan musim peralihan monsun yang membawa hujan lebat.

History Of Landslides In Hulu Klang
Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: Hulu Klang, the place where the latest landslide occurred in Taman Bukit Utama and Taman Bukit Mewah in Bukit Antarabangsa Saturday (6 Dec), is actually an area that is prone to landslides.

On 11 Dec 1993, 48 people were killed when one of the three condominium blocks of Highland Towers in Taman Hillview, located 1.5km away from Saturday's landslide scene, collapsed.

The tragedy shocked the whole nation as it was the first in its history since the independence.

The collapse of the building after three days of heavy downpours had created public awareness on the safety of buildings built on hillslopes.

Apart from the Highland Towers, other landslide-related incidents which had occurred in the Hulu Klang area are as follows:

10 Dec 1985: Two new unoccupied double-storey houses in Taman Melawati, collapsed at 8.50am during heavy downpours.

17 Sept 1998: One house was destroyed in Gombak due to soil erosion.

29 March 1990: A landslide occurred in Taman Setia Wangsa, affecting 80 families in two flats.

25 Dec 1997: Three people were buried alive in a landslide in Km 17 of the Ampang-Hulu Kelang Expressway.

15 May 1999: Thousands of residents in Bukit Antarabangsa and Wangsa Ukay in Jalan Hulu Klang were trapped when a 100-metre long landslide occurred at 5.20am and cut off the only access road to the hilly residential area.

24 Feb 2000: A four-year-old child was killed in a landslide in Kampung Sri Damai, near Taman Kencana, Ampang.

5 Oct 2000: A landslide occurred in Jalan Bukit Antarabangsa during heavy downpours but no casualty was reported.

20 Nov 2002: A landslide at 4.30am flattened the double-storey bungalow of Affin Bank Bhd chairman Gen (Rtd)Tan Sri Ismail Omar.

His wife, Puan Sri Azizah Abdul Aziz, his son Hijaz, two in-laws, two grandchildren and two Indonesian maids, perished in the 4.35am incident.

The bungalow was located 300m away from the Highland Towers.

31 May 2006: Four people including two children were killed when they were buried alive in a landslide that flattened three blocks of longhouses at Kampung Pasir during a heavy downpours at 4.45pm. (Bernama)


Landslides Are Preventable, Says Geo-technical Engineering Authority


KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- Most landslides are preventable and Malaysia already has the expertise to drastically reduce the frequency of such incidences, says Dr Ir Nehemiah Lee, a geotechnical engineer and authority on reinforced soil techniques.

Geotechnical engineering is a branch of engineering specialising in assessing the stability and strength of soil and rock materials, as well as groundwater conditions.

Dr Lee, who was previously attached to the Drainage and Irrigation Department, said incidences of landslides were known to geotechnical engineers as slope stability problems.

"The question is whether we are willing to channel resources in terms of expert personnel and adequate funding to resolve the problem," he told Bernama, Monday.

Referring to calls for a total blanket ban on hillside development following the landslide at Bukit Antarabangsa here, Dr Lee, who is now managing director of Nehemiah Reinforced Soil Sdn Bhd, a company employing mostly Bumiputera engineers dealing with reinforced soil technology, said it might not be the most appropriate approach to solve the problem.

Dr Lee, who has been invited to speak on the subject at many international conferences, said the continued growth in population and increasing scarcity of flat usable land would continue to exert tremendous pressure to develop on hilly terrain.

"Even if the total ban is implemented, the problems remain because there are existing slopes that are not stable. Moreover, slopes that are steeper than 35 degrees may be safe whilst slopes that are gentler may not be safe," he said.

Dr Lee said the stability of slopes depended on a host of other factors beside slope gradient.

They include rainfall intensity and duration in the locality, the type of soil, the geological formation, the effectiveness of drainage system and the type of vegetation growing on the slope.

"In addition, there is still a small element of uncertainty concerning the unknown and unquantifiable factors that are beyond the state of the art of geotechnical engineering professionals," he said.

Dr Lee proposed that the way forward would be the establishment of a special purpose body solely dedicated to slope safety management in Malaysia.

This body should be manned by experts in geotechnical engineering and complemented by engineering geologists, soil erosion experts, hydrologists, drainage experts, environmentalists, lawyers, policy makers and regulators.

The role of this body will be to regulate and audit the investigation, design, construction, monitoring and maintenance of man-made slopes, which include cut slopes, fill slopes and retaining walls.

Besides its regulatory role, Dr Lee said the body should undertake research and education, including forensic investigation into landslides, which would help enhance understanding of the causes of landslides.

"Public education is also important to develop awareness of risk and importance of slope maintenance among home owners," he stressed.

Dr Lee said the first task of this body would be to work with private home owners' associations and developers to carry out risk assessment of every existing slope in the country that was a potential threat to public safety.

Any slope found to be unsafe should be strengthened to the required level of safety while any defects and deficiencies in the drainage system should be readily rectified, he said.

As for new hillside development, Dr Lee said this body should rigorously scrutinise the design, construction and maintenance of man-made slopes within the development to ensure compliance with the highest standard of engineering practice.

Above all, he felt that this body should also be vested with statutory powers to approve or reject any new hillside development so that no town council or municipality would issue a certificate of fitness unless prior approval was obtained from it.

Dr Lee hoped incidences of landslide would be greatly reduced with the setting up of the body and that sustainable, environment-friendly development on hilly terrain could continue unimpeded.

10 Hari Untuk Ketahui Sama Ada Kawasan Bukit Antarabangsa Selamat Atau Tidak, Kata MB SelangorKUALA LUMPUR, 8 Dis (Bernama) -- Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR), Institut Kerja Raya Malaysia (Ikram) serta pakar geologi yang ditugaskan memantau kawasan Bukit Antarabangsa dan sekitarnya memerlukan tempoh 10 hari untuk membuat kajian bagi memastikan sekiranya kawasan itu selamat untuk didiami.

"Walaupun dalam keadaan hujan dan berisiko lebih tinggi, pihak berkenaan menyatakan bahawa 10 hari adalah tempoh masa yang munasabah untuk mereka menyediakan jawapan sama ada kawasan ini berisiko atau tidak," kata Menteri Besar Selangor Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

Bercakap kepada pemberita di sini hari ini beliau berkata JKR, Ikram serta pakar geologi itu sudah memulakan kajian mereka hari ini dengan menempatkan pelbagai peralatan mereka di kawasan berkenaan.

Katanya bagi tempoh jangka panjang, kerajaan Selangor akan mengarahkan supaya pemantauan dibuat di seluruh penempatan berhampiran lereng bukit, terutama di sekitar Kajang dan Hulu Selangor.

Beliau berkata hasil pemantauan yang mengambil masa tidak lebih daripada tiga bulan itu akan didedahkan kepada penduduk di kawasan tersebut, di mana penduduk akan dimaklumkan mengenai tahap risiko kediaman mereka serta bagaimana cara mengatasinya.

Kejadian tanah runtuh awal pagi Sabtu lepas yang mengakibatkan 14 buah banglo Taman Bukit Mewah dan Taman Bukit Utama di Bukit Antarabangsa tertimbus sehingga kini mengakibatkan empat orang terbunuh.

Ulasan Exco Perumahan Selangor di SINI