The Malaysian Insight

TAMAN Bukit Permai 2 residents said they have raised concerns about soil movements to authorities, but no action had been taken.

This comes after a landslide occurred in the residential area yesterday, killing four people.

A resident who wanted to be known only as Leong said the deaths could have been avoided had Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) taken the concerns seriously.

“The authorities are very slow in doing their job. The deaths could have been avoided,” he told The Malaysian Insight today.

“A couple of months back, the residents here lodged a complaint on soil movements. The authorities came and had a look, but said everything was fine.

“But look at it (the area) now. How is this fine?”

Leong said he has no plans to move out of his house as he has nowhere to go.

“I am just praying that it will not rain again, which will worsen the situation.”

Resident Fakhrul Ariffin, 24, said he and his family are currently staying at a hotel. He returned to the site to check on the family home today.

He, too, said he knew of neighbours who lodged complaints with the local authority, but no action had been taken.

“Our neighbours told us about their experience with MPAJ. The Fire Department came and had a look, but said it was nothing serious and left.”

Fakhrul said he and his family have to move out as there has been no electricity or water for the past 24 hours.

Another resident who wanted to be known only as Samuel said he left his house last night, right after the landslide.

Like Taman Bukit Permai, many residential areas are located near hill slopes in Ampang, he added.

“Once we saw the landslide, we immediately evacuated because we are unsure about how worse it can get.

“I am grateful that there has not been any damage to my property, but I am still worried that the landslide can recur due to the rainy season.”

Samuel returned to his house to move some items to a relative’s place in Shah Alam today.

He said what angers him is the lack of warning on the possibility of landslides, given that it had been raining daily before the incident occurred and especially after flash floods struck downtown Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

“I am surprised that they (authorities) did not issue any prior warning as it is the rainy season and the possibility of landslides is very high.”

The landslide in occurred at 5.54pm yesterday, claiming four lives, injuring one person, and damaging 15 houses and 10 vehicles.

Police said the dead are Chong Siew Kim, 85; E. Ramasamy, 58; A. Mahendra, 36; and, Mohd Saifullah Ridzuan Ishak, 34.

The Housing and Local Government Ministry’s immediate response to the incident is to allocate RM1 million to MPAJ for clean-up work, which will commence once the area is declared safe.

The media reported that residents from 48 houses have been ordered to evacuate.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the Public Works Department and Malaysian Institute of Public Works will be conducting soil studies in the next three to five days. – March 11, 2022.