GEORGE TOWN: The search and recovery operation at a construction site along Batu Ferringhi was called off after the bodies of four Myanmar workers were located after a retaining wall that they were building had fallen on them.
The four workers, whose identities have yet to be fully ascertained, were found about three hours apart after the collapse occured at around 9.21pm last night, reportedly triggered by the movement of soil and water.
The workers were constructing a wall at the site of the Lost Paradise Hotel, a privately-owned resort, just metres away from the tourism belt of Batu Ferringhi, which is littered with luxurious resorts, chalets, bazaars and budget hotels.
Northeast district police chief ACP Che Zaimani Che Awang said that the four workers were constructing a wall on the slope within the hotel’s ground.
The Penang Island Municipal Council (MBPP), through its corporate communications office has issued a communique, saying that the owner did not apply for approval to construct the wall.
It was reported that one of the victims, was a maintenance worker at the resort.
State executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari, who was at the scene, said that the last body was recovered at around 3.45am.
He expects a detailed investigation to commence on the tragedy.
This is the third major construction-related mishap to have befallen Penang in the past three years where last year, nine foreigners suffocated at Bukit Kukus in Paya Terubong when they were buried alive under tonnes of soil.
In 2017, 11 workers, including a Malaysian supervisor were buried alive when a landslide swallowed them up at a housing construction site in Tanjung Bungah.
This latest incident, has triggered a round of blame in the chat rooms of the Penang Forum, an umbrella body of civil societies.
They have called for a stringent enforcement by the MBPP and an outright ban on all forms of hillslope development in view of the fragile ecology of Penang.
They added that the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and the local authorities needed to step up enforcement at sites, including in ensuring that the foreigners hired have the required specialisations in the construction sector.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow is scheduled to address the matter later today.
