Broken drainage contributed to the Taman Bukit Permai landslide in 2022. — Filepic
Lack of scheduled monitoring and maintenance is one of the factors behind slope failures, says Selangor infrastructure and agriculture committee chairman Izham Hashim.
Citing the 2022 landslide at Taman Bukit Permai in Ampang, he pointed out how broken drainage had caused water to seep through the holes, collect underground and weaken the soil structure over time.
“As such, notices are being issued to remind private landowners to carry out maintenance from time to time.
“Technical services will also be made available to these property owners upon request,” said Izham during the Selangor State Assembly in Shah Alam.
He was replying to Rajiv Rishyakaran (PH-Bukit Gasing) on what measures were being taken to monitor slopes that are on private land but located beside public roads used by motorists and pedestrians.
Izham noted that when slope failure occurred, the damage was not limited to private property.
“Mudflow will travel, usually affecting several places.”
He said slope assets registered under Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris) would be maintained by Public Works Department (JKR) and local authorities, while developers and individual owners of private lots must take responsibility for their properties.
Izham said preparation of a hazard and risk plan for the state’s roads and at-risk areas, including the highlands, was underway.
The slope hazard and risk map is produced by the Mineral and Geoscience Department using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology and geospatial interpretation to evaluate the danger and risk of geological disasters such as landslides.
“However, we have to understand that slope failures are not easy to detect.
“Take for example the Batang Kali landslide in 2022.
“There were no signs of surface cracks at the top as failure was at the foot of the slope. But where there are visible cracks, we can monitor.
“Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ), for example, is monitoring 352 slopes,” he added.
In answer to Rosnizan Ahmad (PN-Morib) on what would be done for the outdated drainage system along Jalan Sultan Alam Shah at Kanchong Darat in Banting, Izham explained that it was a federal road and therefore under the purview of Kuala Langat JKR.
However, Izham said there was also a dilemma where drains less than 1.2m wide were not considered by JKR as part of its job scope.
They are also not termed ditches and therefore not considered by Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) to be under their purview.
He said these drains would only be upgraded along with the road but so far, there was no plan in place as yet.
“Nevertheless, the state government has budgeted a total of RM5mil for maintenance works of drains, roads and ditches with undefined ownership, to be carried out in two phases.
“In the first phase, RM2.5mil will be allocated to Selangor DID.
“In the second phase, another RM2.5mil will be used by Selangor JKR, local authorities and district and land offices,” he said.
