Landslide death toll at nine (Updated)

22 Oct 2018 / 22:50 H.

GEORGE TOWN: Two more bodies were recovered yesterday from the landslide at Jalan Bukit Kukus in Paya Terubong near here, bringing the death toll to nine so far.
Rescuers are trying to locate another one more individual listed as missing.
The latest recovery at 5pm was a Bangladeshi, who was identified as Mohamad Uzzal, 33.
The body found earlier at about noon was of an Indonesian identified as Subaeri, 34.
It is learnt that the Bangladeshi was spotted underneath a container which was the living quarter for the construction workers.
A candlelight vigil was held near the landslide site on Sunday night which turned emotional when one of the participants recalled the lives of the nine foreigners lost.
Lim Li Lian lamented how Penang has still not learnt about mitigating hillside development, saying that the local authorities must be wary since Penang experiences heavy rainfall during the monsoon period.
"It is not an act of God. This is not the Sahara Desert where it never rains," she said.
The civil activists, who were mostly from the steering committee of the Penang Forum, also held up placards with the name of each victim.
Lim said she was upset that despite countless reminders and warnings issued to the local authorities and the state over hillslope development, these tragedies continue to recur.
She was referring to the another landslide just over a year ago where 11 foreign construction workers and a Malaysian site supervisor were killed.
Aliran, one of the several civil societies, has echoed Sahabat Alam Malaysia in condemning the lack of monitoring on hillslope development, and called for an immediate ban on hilly terrain projects here.
State local government committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the site was part of a 5km paired elevated road linking the Thean Tek Highway in Bandar Baru Air Itam with the Lebuh Bukit Jambul road.
The project's main line, expected to be completed by 2020, was divided into three components with each having a different developer.
The developers involved were the Penang Island City Council (MBPP), Geo Valley Sdn Bhd and PLB Land Sdn Bhd.
The landslide occurred at Jalan Bukit Kukus which comes under the jurisdiction of the MBPP contractor Yuta Maju Sdn Bhd.
Jagdeep said a stop-work order was issued by the Department of Occupational Health and Safety on Oct 13 after 14 concrete beams fell due to the mishandling of one by a crane operator at the project site but it was not at the same spot of the landslide.

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