Residents of four affected homes in Paya Terubong still not allowed to return home as DOSH awaits mitigation plan

GEORGE TOWN, Nov 10 — The residents of four houses impacted by the devastating landslide in Taman Seri Rambai, Paya Terubong, remain barred from returning to their homes, according to state Local Government and Town and Country Planning Committee chairman H’ng Mooi Lye. DOSH is awaiting the developer's civil engineer, Aptitute Consulting Engineers Sdn Bhd, to submit comprehensive documentation and a formal application for the mitigation and repair works on the collapsed slope.

H’ng informed attendees at a press conference that DOSH expects the submissions to arrive tomorrow for evaluation. The developer's team, consisting of geotechnical and civil engineers, were requested to present a mitigation plan and an application to DOSH following a meeting with the organization. Presently, the four affected residences remain off-limits.

DOSH has requested a landslide report from the developer's geotechnical engineer, WYA Consulting Engineers Sdn Bhd, with the company submitting the report on November 5. As of now, the residents of four units are still prohibited from returning to their homes. The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) declared four houses — numbered 1, 3, 5, and 7 — unsafe for occupation earlier, while two others, numbered 9 and 11, have been cleared for reoccupation.

In the October 25 landslide, 73-year-old doctor Wong Kar Lin perished after being buried, while his wife, Chang Mei Nuo, and mother-in-law, Wong Poh Lim, managed to escape. H’ng previously stated that the state would prioritize DOSH's investigation before addressing calls for a state commission of inquiry into the tragedy.