335 families in Precinct 9 apartments evacuated
23/03/2007 NST BY Hamidah Atan and Deborah Loh

PUTRAJAYA: A torrent of mud, dragging trees and rocks with it, roared down a hillside early yesterday morning, stopping just inches away from three 15-storey government apartment buildings in Precinct 9.

Police said there were no injuries or loss of life, but tonnes of earth surged through the car park, damaging 25 cars. Some were buried in the rubble and some were pushed right up against the buildings.

More than 1,500 people were evacuated from Blocks A, B and C in Phase 11 of the government housing complex.

Hundreds of policemen, a Smart team, firefighters and Civil Defence Department personnel arrived within minutes after the landslide was reported at 4.30am.

The area was immediately cordoned off and by 7.30am, all three apartment blocks were evacuated. The 335 families who live in the buildings were moved to the Precinct 9 Community Centre and the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Putrajaya hall.

About noon, police began allowing residents to go into their apartments in batches to retrieve personal belongings.

Putrajaya police chief Superintendent Ab Razak Ab Majid said five Fire and Rescue Department sniffer dogs were used to check the rubble and ensure that no one was buried.

One resident, 45-year-old trader Junaidi Md Judi, said there was some initial panic but the police calmed things down very quickly.

He claims that burst pipes on the slope could have contributed to the landslide along with heavy rain in the past few days.

"I think the earth was weakened by leakage from the pipes and the rain. I have been complaining to the authorities for the past year.

"I have seen water gushing down the slope a few times. There is a reservoir nearby. Thank God it was not affected."

Another resident, 32-year-old Mohd Aidil Hamzah, said he had also seen water gushing down the slope but was told the matter had been reported.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, who arrived at the scene about 9am, said affected civil servants could take a few days off to settle down.

He spent more than an hour talking to some of the residents at the community centre.

Putrajaya Corporation president Tan Sri Samsudin Osman was at the site by 8am, talking to residents and inspecting the landslide.

The corporation oversees development projects in the federal administrative capital.

"We will do our best to help the victims. We will liaise with the Welfare Department," he said.