Errant hill clearing by developers causes of floods, sinkholes, seepages damaged houses!

Misery raining down: The stretch in Paya Terubong is flooded during the downpour on Saturday Sept 12, 2015 — Photo courtesy of Gerakan secretary Oh Tong Keong.

GEORGE TOWN: The flash floods in low-lying parts on the island especially Air Itam, Paya Terubong and Bukit Jambul were caused by uncontrolled development of the hills, claimed state Gerakan secretary Oh Tong Keong.

“Paya Terubong became flooded after a downpour that lasted more than an hour and this was due to the clearing of the hills in Air Itam. The state has given developers a free hand to carry out their projects on the hills.

“The situation is so bad now that we do not even know if these developers are genuine as the state has failed to take action against anyone despite the local media reporting about our hills going bald due to development,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Pictures of a stretch in Paya Terubong being flooded have been circulating online since the downpour on Saturday with a news portal claiming that the cutting of hills and development of new condominiums were the cause of the floods.

Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Project chairman Chow Kon Yew said the flooding was the cause of work being carried out by a developer involved in a high-rise project in the area.

“The drains became blocked and this resulted in the water flowing onto the road during the downpour. Workers were sent by the developer to clear the drain and the water receded within an hour.” - The Star

Massive flood water from IJM Trehous construction project next to Bukit Jambul Hill pond is now flooded, overflown, diverted and entered visibly through inside houses at Lintang Bukit Jambul 1, instead of direct to the drain at Paya Terubong road. This is because the pond water outlet was choked and the original underground piping system is confirmed broken and formed sinkholes with water diverted to residential houses.

Pond water overflown to houses

Sinkhole in front of house



<< Pond water flown out from house to drain 

These caused damages to houses due to soil erosion, multiple slabs collapsed, multiple cracks; broken tiles: cements, pipes and water leakages, etc.

House Slabs collapsed

To prevent further damages to houses, residents proposed to Penang City Council to construct an alternate outlet for pond water smoothly flown out to alternate area, close and seal up with cement the existing outlet which was not properly constructed as it was choked/stucked all the times.

Floods and mudslide hit Penang



GEORGE TOWN: An early morning downpour caused flash floods in many parts of the town here, leading to traffic snarls at low-lying areas like Jalan Khaw Sim Bee, Jalan Westland, Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Logan, Jalan Anson, Jalan Transfer and Jalan Hutton.

However, the worst-hit areas were away from the town centre, with a deluge of mud and sand hitting Jalan Paya Terubong heading towards Balik Pulau.

There was also a bumper-to-bumper crawl after an uprooted tree blocked a good part of the road.

Traffic police were deployed to the scene to control the traffic flow until the tree was removed.

Resident Y.S. Chai, 42, who lives in a terrace house in Jalan Paya Terubong, said the flash flood was one of the worst that had ever occurred as it washed mud and soil down to the road and into the house compounds.

Deluged: Water flowing down the hillslope in Paya Terubong, Air Itam. – ZAINUDIN AHAD / The Star.

She said the heavy rain lasted for only about 30 minutes but muddy waters rose very quickly and rushed onto the front porch of her house.

“I have never encountered a flood this bad before. It took us around three hours to clean everything up,” she said.

Further down the road, a gloomy Pon Kah Tong sprayed water from a hose to clear the mud that had accumulated in his car service workshop.

Paya Terubong is an area that has seen rapid development in recent years.

The floods subsided before noon.

BY ROYCE TAN The Star

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An eyesore: Mitigation works being carried out to restore the cleared slopes of Bukit Relau.

Council slow to act on Botak Hill

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Island City Council has come under fire for taking such a long time to tackle the illegal hill clearing at Bukit Relau.

Bayan Baru PKR MP Sim Tze Tzin (pcs left) said it should not have taken so long to carry out mitigation work at the 22.89ha site which became known as Botak Hill after it was cleared.

“When the issue broke out in 2013, I called a senior council officer who told me that it would be settled within six months.

“But after two years, the problem is still not settled.

“This is not rocket science. What is so difficult?” he told a press conference yesterday in Sungai Dua near here.

Sim said someone should be held responsible for the delay and urged the state to find the culprit.

“The person has to be punished as this has to do with accountability.

“If you cannot do the job, then resign to let other people do it,” he said.

Sim was commenting on the latest news report which stated that the mitigation work being carried out by General Accomplishment Sdn Bhd was scheduled to be completed by October. - The Star 15/7/15

Botak Hill to be patched up soon

GEORGE TOWN: Mitigation works on Bukit Relau, infamously known as Botak Hill after a section of its top slope was cleared in 2013, is scheduled to be completed by October.

The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) said the mitigation works started in April and was expected to be completed in six months.

The council said it had endorsed the Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan (ESCP) and slope strengthening design to mitigate landslips and pollution caused by mud flow based on the proposal by the geotechnical consultant appointed by General Accomplish-ment Sdn Bhd which owns the cleared site.

MBPP said the mitigation plan was vetted by the state’s Hillside Geotechnical Advisory Panel chairman Dr Gue See Sew.

General Accomplishment was fined RM30,000 by a Sessions Court here in July 2013 after a represen-tative pleaded guilty on behalf of the company to clearing the 22.89ha site between April 24 and May 8 the same year without obtaining written approval from then Penang Municipal Council (MPPP).

The offence under Section 70 A of the Street, Drainage and Buildings Act 1974 carries a maximum five-year imprisonment or maximum RM50,000 fine, or both.

MBPP said in a statement yesterday that the mitigation measures include the building of a few catchment and sedimentation ponds along the access route to the site, cutting the slope to reduce its steepness and covering the exposed slope with vegetation.

The council said the works also involved the building of cascading drains along the access route to dissipate the energy of surface runoff and mitigate soil erosion.

Several residents living nearby had earlier this month raised their concern after seeing earthworks being done at the site.

MBPP said the land cutting was done to allow access for heavy vehicles and to carry out rock blasting.

It said huge boulders needed to be removed to ensure a safe route and for the mitigation works to proceed, adding that the rock blasting was approved by the Minerals and Geoscience Depart-ment and police.

MBPP said it would continue to monitor the works to ensure that it was carried out in accordance with the approved mitigation plan.

It said grass had been planted on the access route to prevent erosion and that more plants could now be seen on the cleared slope. The Star 14/7/15

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