The Star, Saturday December 1, 2012

17 motorcycles at Kajang flats torched

Burnt machines: The 17 motorcycles at the parking area of a block of flats in Sungai Chua, Kajang.

KAJANG: Residents of a block of flats here woke up to a commotion and found 17 motorcycles burnt at the parking area.

The incident happened at Taman Tasik Sungai Chua, Kajang at about 3.30am yesterday.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (operations) Mohd Sani Harul said his men received an emergency call at 3.31am.

He added that no one was injured in the incident. There were about 100 motorcycles parked in the area.

“We are investigating the cause of the fire. We are not ruling out arson as one of the reasons,” Mohd Sani said.

Resident Danny Mah, 60, said about 30 motorcycles were stolen from the flats in the past five years.

“This was the first time that motorcycles have been burnt,” he said, adding that his machine was partially burnt, too.

Another resident, Siti Mariam Mahadum, 19, said security was bad, adding that her house at the first floor was broken into last month.

“I'm planning to move out,” she said, adding that the fire had also damaged two motorcycles which belonged to her and her sister.

The Star, Saturday December 1, 2012

Residents still living in fear

KAJANG: Residents living near Madrasah Al-Taqwa Orphanage here worry about the possible recurrence of last year's tragic landslide, which claimed 16 lives.

One of the residents, who only wanted to be known as Norhayati, said she felt tremors during the landslide on May 21 last year.

The 50-year-old, who has been living in the area for the past seven years, still remembered vivdly what happened then.

She was also voicing her concerns over a recent incident in Hulu Langat which very nearly resulted in a similar loss of lives.

“It rains a lot nowadays, so I am a bit worried. I am unsure whether or not this (loss of lives due to landslide) will happen again,” she said yesterday.

Norhayati hoped that “the authorities will initiate preventive measures to ensure such tragic incidents do not happen again”.

Lorry driver Al Hadi Aziz, 29, who has been living near the place where the landslide had occurred, said he moved to another area soon after the incident.

Al Hadi recalled how he had frantically helped in the rescue works during last year's tragedy.

“I helped to extract some of the bodies from the rubble,” he said.

Al Hadi urged the authorities to put in place the necessary measures to make the place safe again.

The Star, Saturday December 1, 2012

There is a possibility of another landslide in Hulu Langat as heavy rains prolong, warns PWD

Reports by P. ARUNA, AUSTIN CAMOENS, LOSHANA K SHAGAR, YVONNE LIM, THAM WEE NIE, CHIANG PANG FEI and FELIX CULAS

Standing by: Rescue workers and journalists waiting near the Jalan Kerchau cave-in, near the Semenyih dam.

PETALING JAYA: The Public Works Department has advised residents in the Hulu Langat area to be on “high alert” following two landslides in the area within the past week.

“There is always a possibility of another landslide, especially during and after heavy or prolonged rainfall,” said PWD slope engineering unit headDr Che Hassandi Abdullah.

He urged those living on hilly terrain and near slopes to heed the warnings and alerts from the department and the local authorities.

“The hillslopes in Hulu Langat are among the landslide-prone areas identified by the department in its National Slope Master Plan Study,” he said yesterday.

On Monday, heavy rain caused a minor rockslide behind the kitchen wall of the Perkid welfare home, near Kajang, snapping two pillars and endangering the lives of four girls there.

On Thursday, five people - travelling in three vehicles - narrowly escaped injury when a stretch along Jalan Kerchau, near the Semenyih dam, collapsed.

On May 21 last year, a killer landslide claimed the lives of 16 young people from the Madrasah Al-Taqwa Orphanage, near Kajang, following overnight rain.

Asked about the road collapse near the Sememyih dam, Dr Che Hassandi said the department could not be certain what caused it until a thorough investigation was done.

“We believe it is either due to leakage of a culvert, water seepage (under ground), softening and weakening of the toe of the embankment or a combination of these elements.”

However, he said the department was not aware of the exact number of high hazard and high-risk slopes in Hulu Langat as a hazard and risk mapping study had yet to be carried out.

He urged the Selangor Government to carry out the study, adding that the PWD was prepared to provide technical advice.

There are reportedly 21,000 landslide-prone areas nationwide, with 16,000 or 76% of the areas in peninsula Malaysia, about 3,000 in Sabah and 2,000 in Sarawak.

Meanwhile, Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) river basin and coastal management division chief Datuk Lim Chow Hock said the slopes and types of soil in the area made Hulu Langat landslide-prone whenever there was heavy rainfall.

He said landslides were caused by either sudden, high intensity rain or continuous rain over two or three days that weaken the soil.

Another high-risk area in the Klang Valley, he said, was Bukit Antarabangsa in Ampang.

Check on road works that might lead to tragedies, authorities urged Reports by P. ARUNA, AUSTIN CAMOENS, LOSHANA K SHAGAR, YVONNE LIM, THAM WEE NIE, CHIANG PANG FEI and FELIX CULAS KAJANG: A welfare home operator here wants the authorities to check on road works carried out by contractors that might contribute to landslides or rockslides in the area. President of Perkid Malaysia Masridzi Sat said a rockslide early this week snapped two pillars and endangered the lives of four girls who were at the home for girls. Masridzi claimed the incident happened after road contractors left mounds of rubble next to the kitchen wall, blocking the drains there. “During the downpour, it is a common sight to have rainwater flooding the kitchen. The pressure of the rainwater proved too much for the kitchen pillars to bear,” he said. According to Masridzi, there was a mudslide after contractors build a road behind the home. Masridzi hoped that the authorities will take the necessary action to prevent such an incident from occurring again. “The land here is already prone to landslides. If contractors want to build better roads for us, they should build it on lower ground and take precautions while disposing rubble. This will make it safer not just for us but also for the other houses around this area.” A resident, who wished to be known only as Azie, was one of the four girls in the kitchen at the time of the incident. “We were preparing dinner at that time. Suddenly we heard some loud cracks behind the wall. We thought that the rocks were going to fall through the wall. But instead, the pillars snapped.” Since the incident, the residents have temporarily relocated their kitchen. Although the residents live in fear each time it rains heavily, this does not prevent them from carrying on with their daily lives.

The Star, Saturday December 1, 2012

Check on road works that might lead to tragedies, authorities urged

KAJANG: A welfare home operator here wants the authorities to check on road works carried out by contractors that might contribute to landslides or rockslides in the area.

President of Perkid Malaysia Masridzi Sat said a rockslide early this week snapped two pillars and endangered the lives of four girls who were at the home for girls.

Masridzi claimed the incident happened after road contractors left mounds of rubble next to the kitchen wall, blocking the drains there.

“During the downpour, it is a common sight to have rainwater flooding the kitchen. The pressure of the rainwater proved too much for the kitchen pillars to bear,” he said.

According to Masridzi, there was a mudslide after contractors build a road behind the home.

Masridzi hoped that the authorities will take the necessary action to prevent such an incident from occurring again.

“The land here is already prone to landslides. If contractors want to build better roads for us, they should build it on lower ground and take precautions while disposing rubble. This will make it safer not just for us but also for the other houses around this area.”

A resident, who wished to be known only as Azie, was one of the four girls in the kitchen at the time of the incident.

“We were preparing dinner at that time. Suddenly we heard some loud cracks behind the wall. We thought that the rocks were going to fall through the wall. But instead, the pillars snapped.”

Since the incident, the residents have temporarily relocated their kitchen. Although the residents live in fear each time it rains heavily, this does not prevent them from carrying on with their daily lives.

The Star, Saturday December 1, 2012

Family and two others plunge down collapsed road

Reports by P. ARUNA, AUSTIN CAMOENS, LOSHANA K SHAGAR, YVONNE LIM, THAM WEE NIE, CHIANG PANG FEI and FELIX CULAS

On the brink: A man looking over the collapsed part of the road at KM20 Jalan Sungai Lalang in Semenyih. — SHAARI CHEMAT / The Star

KAJANG: Five people narrowly escaped death while travelling on a road which collapsed near the Semenyih dam after several days of rain.

A car driven by a couple and their daughter and a van driven by a man plunged 30m into a river bank.

A security guard who went to investigate on his motorcycle hit into the rubble of the collapsed road and also slid down the river bank.

The Fire and Rescue Department was notified at around 7.43pm on Wednesday, minutes after it occurred, said operations officer Seman Awang.

Fifteen men in two engines were dispatched to the scene from Kajang and Bangi, he said at the scene.

“By the time we arrived at 8.24pm, the five had got to safety,” he added.

Seman said the road would be closed until its “structural integrity” had been thoroughly examined.

The guard, Mohd Khair Abdullah Zabar, was working at the Semenyih dam here on Wednesday night when he noticed two sets of headlights shining down towards the river at about 8pm.

“I also heard a loud noise that sounded like a tree falling.

“That's when I got on my motorcycle to investigate,” said the 20-year-old.

“There were no street lights as the electricity had been cut. In my hurry to find out what had happened, I did not realise that a part of the road had collapsed.”

Mohd Khair said his motorcycle hit into some rubble and slid down the bank, where the overturned car was. Further away was the van.

Close call: The car and the motor cycle lying on the slope near the Semenyih dam.

He helped Sukri Serajudin, 32, and his wife Noor Shazwani Mohd Adnan, 24, pull their two-year-old child Noraina Qaisara from the backseat.

Together with the man in the van, they climbed up to the road, where Mohd Khair stopped a passing car and asked the driver to inform the police.

”The others were taken in an ambulance to the Kajang Hospital. My sister took me to the nearest clinic. I was only slightly injured,” Mohd Khairi said.

Kajang police station's Insp Zamri Musa, who was at the scene, said that about 500m of the road had been cordoned off within two hours of the landslide.

He expects the road to remain closed for at least six months for repairs.

The Star, Friday November 30, 2012

Company and university fined by MPKj for flouting regulations

Elan Perumal at the Selangor State Assembly

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Country Heights have been been taken to task by the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) for causing flash floods.

State local government committee chairman Ronnie Liu said the development at Country Heights caused flash floods in Sungai Ramal 2 and Sungai Ramal Dalam.

The ongoing development at UPM, Liu said, resulted in flash floods in the surrounding areas.

“They have been issued with notices and fines for not complying to the council rules and regulations.

“They have been told to carry out flood mitigation efforts in line with requiremnt of the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID),’’ he said to a question from Dr Shafie Abu Bakar (PR-Bangi).

Liu said, the state had identified many other developers who were responsible for causing flash floods due to non compliance of the rules and regulations.

Meanwhile Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim told DID not to waste money on programmes that do not help flood mitigation.

He said DID was more interested in beautifying the rivers than widening and upgrading their drains and rivers.

“There was an area where they build a one-kilometre long concrete wall along a river as part of the beautification programme and this shows that they are spending money unwisely,’’ he said.

The Star, Friday November 30, 2012

Narrow escape for five following a landslide

KAJANG: Five people had a narrow escape when part of a road collapsed near the Semenyih dam following a minor landslide along Jalan Kechau.

“The landslide caused a portion of the road to collapse, which in turn caused three vehicles to plunge nearly 30m into the river bank,” Fire and Rescue Department operations officer Seman Awang said.

The five people were travelling separately in three vehicles – a Perodua Myvi, a van and a motorcycle – at around 7.40pm yesterday.

Seman said by the time two fire engines and 15 firemen arrived at the scene at 8.24pm, passers-by had helped the three men, a woman and a two-year-old child, to get out of their vehicles and brought them to safety.

They were not injured, he added.