A landslide in Puchong last Friday became the major topic of the Subang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPSJ) monthly full-board meeting today as the developer was instructed to carry out remedial works immediately.
The incident, which took place at Jalan Puteri 9, Bandar Puteri Puchong, caused a retention wall to collapse and damaged two pieces of private property but did not cause casualties.
MPSJ acting council president, Abdullah Marjunid (left), said a natural disaster committee has been formed to determine the short and long-term measures to be taken on the slope, that is prone to landslides.
“The developer has been instructed to build temporary diversion stream to reduce the concentration of surface water in the landslide area,” he said.
“They must also lay plastic canvas on the area to control erosion,” he added.
He said developers must in future conduct land investigation works on the slope, and implement a suitable plan to prevent future landslides. Developers must submit these plans for the approval of MPSJ.
Engineering department head, Ismail Shafie, said that MPSJ has formed a team to monitor elevated areas within the municipality and take timely action to prevent the occurrence of landslides.
According to him, there are 124 slopes in the area, of which 13 are within the jurisdiction of the MPSJ.
“The three high-risk slopes are the one at Jalan Tiong, 2 Bandar Puchong Jaya; Jalan Kasawari, Puchong Kinrara; and Jalan Puteri 9,”he said.
What is a hostel?
On a different note, the council deliberated the definition of “hostel”, which must comply with the new building-made-student dormitories guidelines.
Councillor Rajiv Rishyakaran raised the question of whether student dormitories should only refer to buildings that have been renovated to have more rooms, or generally, to premises that are rented out to students.
Councillor Roslan Shahir, who was involved in formulating the guidelines, said renovated buildings are the ones contemplated as student dormitories by the guidelines.
However, he also noted that an unrenovated building with four rooms would equally raise concern if it was occupied by 10 persons.
Hence, the council has setup a small task force to look into defining the meaning of hostel.
Libraries should be free
Meanwhile, Rajiv (right) suggested MPSJ abolish its RM37 annual membership fee imposed by its thr
ee libraries.
He said the fees are “ridiculously high” compared to Selangor state library, which is free.
“The fees do not generate much income for MPSJ, hence we might as well abolish it to encourage people go to our libraries,” he said.
Abdullah then directed the relevant department to look into the issue.
Admin
