Monday December 31, 2012

Developer committed to following recommendations for repair work

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Setiawangsa developer, I&P Group Sdn Bhd, hopes to complete repair work on the collapsed wall within a week.

“We cannot give the exact date when the work will be completed but our target is one week,” said its group managing director Datuk Jamaludin Othman after meeting residents at the location of the landslide here yesterday.

He said I&P was committed to following the recommendations made by DBKL and Ikram.

“We cannot rush the remedial work as we do not want to worsen the situation.”

Among the recommendations are demolishing the bungalow located at the edge of the hill slope, removing the anchored block and making the road safe for evacuations.

Jamaludin added that the company would provide RM1,500 to each household.

He also said I&P would consider getting a second opinion from a geo-technical specialist to further stabilise the area.

Road to recovery: An alternative road has been built by the authorities to facilitate the entry and exit of Bukit Setiawangsa residents.

“We are still investigating how and why the wall, which was built in 1990, collapsed,” he said.

Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib said the corrective measures taken by I&P must comply with the latest DBKL guidelines.

“The long-term solution must be submitted to us within a month,” he said at the site here yesterday.

To safer grounds: Resident Tengku Ahmad Radzman Syah packing his belongings before evacuating his home in Bukit Setiawangsa.

Ikram COO Mohamed Taufik Harun said there was no movement of the hillslope as at press time yesterday.

The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Rehda), meanwhile, has called for all shotcrete walls to be audited by the relevant authorities to prevent a similar incident.

Its president Datuk Seri Michael Yam, however, said it would not be wise to ban shortcrete walls altogether.

“Shotcrete walls are still a cost-effective solution to prevent soil erosion,'' he said, adding that most shotcrete walls were used on slopes along roads and highways.

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