Malaysia orders in-depth probe into landslide
Malaysia orders in-depth probe into landslide
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): The Malaysian government yesterday ordered
an in-depth probe into last week's landslide that killed 21
holiday-makers, among them 10 foreigners, at the foot of a
highland casino-resort.
Works Minister Samy Vellu Sanglimuthu said the Public Works
Department (PWD) -- which is under the works ministry -- was to
undertake the detailed investigation and submit a report within
two months.
The government did not propose to appoint an independent body
to investigate the incident, Samy Vellu was reported saying by
Bernama news agency after the cabinet's weekly meeting.
"However, if the PWD and the investigating team want to enlist
the services of foreign experts to help out, it can be done with
the ministry's permission," Samy Vellu said.
The minister said he told the cabinet that preliminary
investigations by PWD soil experts found that the landslide,
which occurred after hours of torrential rain Friday, was
completely natural.
Two Japanese, four Philippine nationals and four Singaporeans
were among 21 confirmed killed after tons of mud, uprooted trees
and boulders swept down a hillside onto a 1.3-kilometer (0.8-
mile) private sliproad leading to the Genting resort.
The road was built in 1988 by listed gaming conglomerate
Genting Bhd., which owns the country's only casino.
Officials and environmentalists have blamed excessive hill-
cutting and tree felling on Genting Highlands as the cause of the
landslide.
But Genting chairman Lim Goh Tong, one of Malaysia's more
influential tycoons with close political links, had insisted that
it was an avalanche due to natural causes.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, on his return Tuesday from a
three-week overseas trip, said it could have been an "act of God
as accidents happened despite all precautions taken based on
science and technology."
But he vowed that action would be taken against any party
found responsible for the landslide.
Government authorities, reeling from Malaysia's second
highland tragedy in 19 months, have ordered mandatory checks on
all ageing high-rises, in a similar reaction to the December 1993
collapse of a hilltop condominium that killed 48 people.