6 theSun
news without borders
Poser over hillslope
developments
by Maria J. Dass
newsdesk@tehsundaily.com
PETALING JAYA:
Questions should be posed
as to how developers got
hold of land and approvals
to develop on high-risk
hillslopes, said planning
lawyer and Petaling Jaya
City Council councillor
Derek Fernandez.
Describing the situation
as scary, he said existing
housing areas built on
high-risk slopes in Bukit
Antarabangsa, Bukit Gasing
and Medan Damansara
are ticking time-bombs
for similar disasters as the
one that occurred at Bukit
Antarabangsa on Dec 6.
“An immediate review
of all existing hillslope
development in high-risk
areas should be done
and a list of high-
risk areas
and
The controversial Bukit Ceylon project located near St Andrews Church
Worried about Bukit Ceylon project
KUALA LUMPUR:
Despite construction of
the controversial Verticas
Residensi project having
been stopped temporarily
on the slopes of Bukit
Ceylon, residents in the
vicinity remain concerned
for their safety.
The project, which is
situated next to the 90-year-
old St Andrews Presbyterian
Church, was approved by
DBKL earlier this year.
Construction work
started in August, and one
side of the hill has been
cleared of vegetation.
Ex-post office manager jailed 3 years for CBT
KUALA LUMPUR: The ses-
sions court here yesterday
sentenced a former manager
of the Putrajaya post office to
three years’ jail for committing
criminal breach of trust involv-
ing RM95,500.
Judge S.M. Komathy Sup-
piah ordered that the jail sen-
tence on Zaharah Jaafar, 45, be
effective from yesterday.
areas prone to landslides
should be made available
to the public immediately,”
Fernandez said.
New or existing
development in high-risk
areas should be stopped, he
added. Owners of homes
in the danger zones should
look for small signs of slope
failure and inform the local
authorities.
“Residents may need to
engage their own experts
for this and personal
safety should override
considerations of market
value of the homes located
in these areas,” he said.
“It remains to be seen
if the government ban on
development on high-risk
hillslopes is sincere or if it
will be the broken record
played over and over again.”
Fernandez said the
government should, through
the National Physical
Planning Council, issue
Although a minor
landslide about a
month ago damaged the
guardhouse of the church,
the construction company
continued working
until the government’s
blanket freeze on hillslope
development after the Bukit
Antarabangsa landslide on
Dec 6.
“The church office next
to the guard house has been
deemed unsafe due to the
project,” said Chrisanne
Chin, a youth coordinator at
the church.
She said the soil erosion
Soon after sentence was
delivered, Zaharah, who was
accompanied by her daughter
and husband, started weeping.
In passing sentence,
Komathy said Zaharah had
committed a serious offence
as it involved a large sum and
that it should serve as a lesson
to all.
Zaharah had on Aug 20
| TUESDAY DECEMBER 16 2008
legally binding directives to
all states and local authorities
in relation to planning
and hillslope protection
pertaining to development
on class 3 and 4 slopes (25
degrees and above).
Approved projects
can be cancelled if the
documentation involved
does not comply with
standards in law, is false,
misleading and inaccurate.
“In most cases, soil
investigations are usually
not done properly and
the development impact
proposal is inaccurate and
if these are misleading or
don’t follow the law, the
development approvals can
be cancelled,” he said.
He said infrastructure
in the areas must be in
place but some local
authorities and developers
overlooked or ignored these
requirements.
KAMARIDUAN MOHD NOR/THESUN
in the area would worsen
due to the current rainy
weather.
The development,
compromising a 34-storey
and three 43-storey
apartment blocks, is
located metres below some
bungalows and a reservoir.
The project has raised
questions as to how DBKL
approved the project
despite guidelines that were
introduced in 1997 that
no housing development
should be allowed on slopes
with gradients of 25 degrees
and above.
pleaded guilty to committing
criminal breach of trust involv-
ing RM95,500 belonging to the
post office at Aras 1, Blok B1,
Prime Minister’s Department,
Putrajaya on May 18, 2006.
She was charged under
section 409 of the Penal Code
which carries a maximum
penalty of 20 years’ jail, a fine,
and whipping. – Bernama