IT has been a year since a fatal landslide took the lives of four people in Taman Zooview in Hulu Kelang on May 31, 2006. 

Yet, remedial work is still under way and the residents who have had to vacate their houses until the repairs are completed are frustrated over the long wait to return to their homes. 

Eye witness: Joginder Singh looking out of his house balcony from where he saw the landslide occurring.

The 11 displaced families are still living in rented houses. 

The Selangor state government had announced in December that remedial work would be conducted on the slopes. 

Resident Dr Fitter Baharom is concerned about the work that is taking place to repair the slope. 

“Initially work was supposed to begin in February but the developer, who is repairing the slope only began work in March.  

Tiring wait: The residents looking at the slope which is being repaired.

“We still don’t know the details of the kind of work that they are doing to ensure that this incident doesn't happen again,” he said. 

Dr Fitter said the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) had held a meeting with the displaced residents to brief them on the remedial work. 

“We were not given much information on the technical aspects of the effort.  

»We don’t even know if our houses will be repaired by the developer« DR FITTER BAHAROM

“We don’t even know if our houses will be repaired by the developers and we would like a detailed report on the findings, which was conducted by the Public Works Depart-ment,” he added. 

Another resident Joginder Singh, 52, said he could recall the incident vividly as he had witnessed the moment when the slope started sliding down towards Kampung Pasir. 

“I remember there was a lorry driver who just arrived at the site with a load of sand. I shouted and pointed out to him that the slope was sliding. Luckily he was able to escape but I couldn’t help the others,” he said. 

Joginder said he was happy that work was progressing. 

“I understand why it is taking longer than expected to do the remedial works. 

“I believe that they will build at least four tiers on the slope area and they have opened a stream line to let the water flow. This takes time as the foundation needs to be very strong before they actually start building the tiers,” he added.  

Dr Fitter said the residents had also noticed that the right and left side of the landslide area were showing signs of collapsing. 

MPAJ public relations officer Norhayati Ahmad said MPAJ’s role was only as the coordinator between the developer and Kumpulan Ikram Sdn Bhd, which is supervising the remedial works. 

“The Lembaga Perumahan dan Harta Selangor (LPSH) is handling the repair works and we believe that it should be finished in December.  

“We are giving our full support to the residents and LPSH to ensure that the interest of the people are taken care of,” she added. 

Under repair: Work on the collapsed slope is taking a long time to finish. In the background is Taman Ukay Bistari and on the right is Kampung Pasir.

She said the developer would be repairing the affected houses once the remedial works were done on the slope area. 

She said MPAJ would also continue to pay the rent for the houses in Taman Ukay Bistari were the 11 affected families are staying.