KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) has offered its assistance to help the Penang government probe the causes behind the collapse of a retaining wall and a road to a newly completed housing area in Tanjung Bungah.
In a statement, IEM president Tan Yean Chin also urged the state government to adopt the organisation’s position paper on engineering control at hillside developments.
“The recommendations were prepared precisely to permit the identification and mitigation of circumstances that could lead to potential landslides and collapse of retaining wall,” Tan said.
He said a “detailed investigation” must be carried out to prevent a recurrence of such an event, as it said that the collapsed wall was part of Permanent Works that was designed by a professional engineer with a practicing certificate.
“The Institution is willing to offer our technical assistance and opinion in the investigation. As a learned society with over 40,000 members and affiliated to several international engineering Organisations,” he added.
The road collapsed around 3am after a continuous 15-hour rain that left almost 80 per cent of Penang island affected by floods over the weekend.
The floods claimed seven lives so far, while displacing thousands.
The location of the collapse is also a short distance away from a hill slope construction site where a landslide occurred last month, killing 11 people.
The incidents have caused increased focus on hillside developments in Penang island.
