KUALA LUMPUR: It
is not right to hold the government solely responsible for the
landslide disaster at Bukit Antarabangsa which occurred last
weekend, said Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek
yesterday.
He said it was
unfair to slam the government for failing to act everytime
whenever such a disaster struck.
“It is unfair to
say that government did not act. We cannot put the blame on
just one authority. After all, you need two to tango, but this
time there are three, the government, developers and buyers,”
he told Bernama here.
Ahmad Shabery was
commenting on the current blame game among the authorities,
developers and public after the devastating landslide at the
upmarket residential area which claimed four lives and
destroyed 14 bungalows.
Ahmad Shabery,
who is also the deputy chairman of the national disaster and
relief management committee, said house buyers also needed to
be critical, especially on the safety aspects, when
considering to purchase property on hill slopes.
Prospective
buyers should exercise their right to demand from developers
that the properties were safe to live in and there would be
insurance cover for natural disasters as well.
“Safety should
override status and beauty. Buyers should make that clear to
developers. For instance, buyers should tell developers that
they are not going to buy if developers are unwilling to
provide facilities for total insurance, including acts of
nature,” he said.
Ahmad Shabery
also said that enforcement at the local authority levels
should be strengthened to prevent such disasters from
recurring.
On a suggestion
to set up a special purpose body dedicated to regulating
development on hill slopes, he said it might not be that easy
to implement in view of various complexities as land was a
state matter.
“It may take some
time to work that out,” he said when commenting on the
proposal by Dr Nehemiah Lee, an authority on soil matters, who
had suggested the establishment of such a body to oversee hill
slope development.
Meanwhile, Ahmad
Shabery also lauded the pro-active steps taken by various
private sector organisations to provide relief to victims, and
cited Maybank’s role in giving a six-month waiver on
instalment payments to customers whose homes had been damaged
by the landslide.
He said such
efforts would slightly ease their misery in rebuilding their
lives. — Bernama
Published
by The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd .gif)
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