Bukit Antarabangsa Landslide (3)

The unoccupied, shrouded Blocks 2 and 3 have long been stripped of contents, including fittings, leaving only the naked structure — and today remain a crippling symbol of deadly hillslope housing that first gripped the nation on Saturday, Dec 11, 1993.

About 1.30pm that day, after 10 days of continuous rainfall, Block 1 collapsed. When the rescue operation was called off after days of searching, 48 people were recorded dead and scores injured.

Tomorrow, on the 15th anniversary of that monumental tragedy, Blocks 2 and 3 will come into focus, with all and sundry wringing their hands in despondency and sprouting the usual inanity about an immediate freeze on hillslope development.

Ironically, when Highland Towers collapsed, the government banned hillside development. No one bothered.

Now, the same ban has been announced again following the latest tragedy in Bukit Antarabangsa, about a kilometre from the Highland Towers in Hulu Klang. At least four people are dead, many injured and nearly 5,000 evacuated and a large upscale housing area declared a disaster zone.

Then, there is talk about initiating additional safety measures for hillside housing with, yes, a blueprint. Isn’t it always about a master-plan or a task force?

Highland Towers consisted of three blocks of 12-storey high apartments named simply as Blocks 1, 2 and 3. They were constructed sometime between 1975 and 1978 and the residents there were middle-income earners.

Directly behind the three blocks was a rather steep hill with a stream flowing west, if it was allowed to follow its natural course. A study was conducted in the area, and it was decided that the land structure had weakened due to water that had seeped into the land from a source that was previously blocked.

It is unclear if the houses at Bukit Antarabangsa were built before or after the Highland Towers tragedy because no information is available but if they were built after the tragedy, as is believed, then it’s a bad case of not using history as a guide.

Bukit Antarabangsa is a community scarred and scared. All of Malaysia is focused on Ampang’s “Hill of Death” and as we remember the victims of the Highland Towers, we’d think that people would have learned lessons from tragedies past and attempted to prevent them from recurring and causing injury and suffering all over again.

No wonder, Dr Benjamin George, who survived the Highlands Tower disaster, was not convinced that things would get better when he said in the wake of the latest incident: “In three months, the tractors will start work again. I have survived long enough to see all this nonsense repeated.”

It was the Highland Towers disaster that led to the formation of SMART (Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team) and brought the dangers of hillside development into sharp focus, but sadly we seem to remember the victims only when another tragedy occurs.

We forget easily, just as we let pass the air crash at Tanjung Kupang, Johor, on Dec 4, 1977 — the first air accident for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and the worst for Malaysia.

A Boeing 737-200 with 93 passengers, including a minister, and seven crew was hijacked before it exploded in mid-air and crashed into a swamp, killing all.

Have we become heartless? History teaches us that history does not teach us.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9, 2008): Most landslides are preventable and Malaysia already has the expertise to drastically reduce the frequency of such incidences, says Dr 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.

Lee, previously with the Drainage and Irrigation Department  and now the managing director of a company dealing with reinforced soil technology, 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 yesterday.

Referring to calls for a  blanket ban on hillside development following the landslide at Bukit Antarabangsa,  he said it might not be the most appropriate approach to solve the problem.

Lee, who has been invited to speak 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 hilly terrain, Bernama reports.

“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 while slopes that are gentler may not be safe,??? he said.

He said the stability of slopes depended on a host of other factors besides 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.

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

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.

Its role 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, the body should undertake research and education, including forensic investigation into landslides.

Its first task would be to work with private home owners’ associations and developers to carry out risk assessment of every existing slope that was a potential threat.

Any slope found to be unsafe should be strengthened to the required level of safety, and defects in the drainage system rectified.

For new hillside development, this body should scrutinise the design, construction and maintenance of man-made slopes to ensure compliance with the highest standard of engineering practice.

Above all, it should 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.

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.