FEARS of further soil movement at Taman Wawasan in Puchong following a major landslide in the residential area yesterday evening has put the authorities and the community around the vicinity on high alert.
Subang Jaya mayor Datuk Mohd Fauzi Mohd Yatim has reportedly confirmed that the area is unsafe following movements of the ground which have been active since 1pm today.
He was reported by Malaysia Gazette as saying that the earth there was still giving way when he inspected the incident site at about 12.30pm.
It was reported that the landslide at about 7.30pm yesterday caused an area 50m in length and 60m wide to collapse over 3m deep.
Earlier, Serdang district police chief ACP A.A. Anbalagan confirmed that there were no casualties in the landslide incident.
He said works to install 375 iron piles in the 150m area already started at 4am today.
In addition to installing these, tarpaulins were placed in the area to prevent water from entering the ground as a precautionary measure to further soil aggravation.
The installation of the iron piles is expected to be completed in two weeks.
Four cars were buried in the landslide and nine terrace houses were affected with the occupants advised to seek shelter elsewhere, he added.
Meanwhile, the Petaling District Office will carry out a thorough inspection of 26 units of terrace houses there.
District Officer Rahilah Rahmat said the inspection, among other things, would analyse the structure of the houses around the location. Nine homes have been ordered to be vacated while another 17 are still occupied.
"We will check if there are cracks in each house. There may be old cracks that the residents are not aware of,” she said.
"So far, only nine houses have been affected and other houses in the same row have not been affected. But we have to wait for the results of the report from the Department of Minerals and Geosciences for further action," she said at the site today.
Meanwhile, works to extract vehicles that plunged due to the landslide took place today.
A Honda City vehicle belonging to one of the residents who was affected was successfully removed at about 6pm.
The silver-coloured car was lifted using an excavator, reported Malaysia Gazette. It was one of the four vehicles that had plunged in.
Earlier, iron and steel piles were placed on the ground to stabilise the area around the soil that had given way in the landslide.
Loud noise and large crater
Following the incident yesterday, 29 occupants of nine terrace houses were directed to evacuate due to safety concerns.
Resident Abd Rahim Md Ali, 72, and his family received shelter at a temporary relief centre set up at Subang Jaya City Council multipurpose hall.
He recounted to reporters how he found a large crater in front of his house at Jalan Wawasan in the area.
He said that he and his family ran outdoors to see what was happening on hearing a thunderous sound.
“When the front door was opened, we were shocked to see the front of the house had turned into a crater and we all quickly fled through the back door,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama. They also heard the distressing screams of neighbours.
“A few minutes later, fire department personnel and the police arrived and they told us to vacate the house for safety reasons,” he said.
Another resident, Tung Ei Lee, 42, said the incident was the first of its kind in decades during her time living there.
“I was tidying up the house when suddenly, a neighbour knocked on my door, informing me about the landslide. I rushed outside and saw tree branches falling. I quickly got hold of some important documents and left the house,” Tung was quoted by Bernama.
She is now putting up at a sibling’s house.
Subang MP Wong Chen said that the affected residents could come to his parliamentary office to receive assistance of RM1,000 from 10am tomorrow.
They may be given additional assistance, including alternative accommodation, next week because repair works are expected to take two weeks. – The Vibes, December 17, 2023.
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