Landslide: Residents To Be Allowed Home From 6 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- All victims of the Taman Melawati landslide incident will be allowed to return to their homes from 6 pm today.

Ampang Jaya District Police chief ACP Mohd Azam Ismail said this was decided after getting the approval of all the agencies involved in the slope repair works, which entered the third day today.

"We also want to state that no new soil movement has been detected based on the study conducted by the Minerals and Geoscience Department (JMG).

"Based on our overall findings today and also the agreement of all the related agencies, we will allow residents in Jalan E6, involving 20 houses, to return to their homes from 6 pm,” he said.

He told reporters this at the temporary relief centre at Dewan Orang Ramai Jalan E5 here today.

On Tuesday (Oct 15), the landslide occurred at about 10.15 am following continuous heavy rain, forcing the residents of 20 homes in Taman Melawati to be evacuated.

Currently, 23 people from seven families are placed at the relief centre, while some 10 others chose to stay in hotels or put up with their relatives.

Mohd Azam, however, urged all those allowed to return to their premises to continue to be wary while work on mitigation and slope repair efforts are actively being carried out to prevent further erosion.

"We expect the slope maintenance work to continue until tomorrow but we will continue even if more time is needed. The police and fire and rescue personnel will still be deployed until tomorrow morning to monitor the situation when the residents go back to their houses,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gombak District and Land Office chief assistant officer Ahmad Fitri Ahmad said maintenance work in the area would be handled by the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) while long-term repair and improvement works would be handed over to the land owner.

"To further boost the residents’ confidence regarding the safety of the surrounding areas, the MPAJ will place a temporary land barrier to reduce the impact should anything happen,” he said.

On the Selangor State Disaster Trust Fund, Ahmad Fitri said all the affected household heads are eligible to apply for the RM500 aid and the application can be made at the nearest Pejabat Penghulu Mukim.

-- BERNAMA