Perak orders monitoring of limestone hills throughout state, closure of Tambun resort until further notice

IPOH, Nov 11 — The Perak government has ordered the relevant departments and agencies to monitor every risky limestone hill, especially those located near residential areas, throughout the state following the recent landslide which killed two individuals in Tambun.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said that the government has also ordered the Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat, where the recent landslide took place, to close until further notice as the place is still at risk of further landslides.

“According to the State Mineral and Geoscience Department (JMG), the limestone hill at the place of incident has vertical cliffs with cracks and layered plane.

“This causes the limestone hill to have the potential to experience landslides or rock falls. It is a geological phenomenon that cannot be predicted,” he told a press conference at the Mentri Besar’s Office here.

Ahmad Faizal also said that an inspection by JMG at the scene revealed that there are still another six hanging blocks measuring between 5 and 10 meters that are at risk of collapsing.  

“JMG has also found out that there is still active water flow along the slope in the hill, which runs through the cracks. Some of the limestone at the scene has already experienced high weathering and facilitated rock falls,” he explained.

He also said other guests in the resort have already been moved to another place for safety purposes.

Ahmad Faizal said that checks with the Ipoh City Council revealed that the resort management had obtained necessary approvals, including the establishment of buffer zones, from all the relevant departments, before developing the place 20 years ago.

He also said the state expresses grief and extends its condolences to the families of the two victims who lost their lives in the unfortunate event.

Yesterday, Ooi Chee Wei, 39, and Lee Tze Juin, 32, both of whom hailed from Kuala Lumpur, were killed after being buried in the landslide, which reportedly occurred at 1.30am.

Ipoh Police chief ACP A. Asmadi Abdul Aziz said that initial investigations revealed that they were in Perak for work purposes.

Police classified the case as sudden death due to natural disaster.