THE recent rainy weather in Penang could have contributed to the fatal landslide today in Paya Terubong, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said.

“I believe that weather, which is the rain, was one of the factors,” he told reporters after visiting the site this evening.

So far, Fire and Rescue Department personnel have pulled out two foreign workers who had died in the incident. Another was rescued but injured.

The department is still searching for several others who are still missing. It is not yet confirmed how many exactly are missing.

This latest incident has led Penang civil society to urge the state government to stop all infrastructure projects on hill slopes.

Asked to comment on the matter, Chow said any incident at construction project sites are regrettable.

“Our position is all constructions have to be done in safer conditions,” he said.

Chow also urged the personnel working in the rescue operation to exercise caution at the disaster site because the recent rains in Penang had caused the hill slope to become unstable.

He said there are no works going on at the site currently, where the RM275 million Paya Terubong Pair Road is being built.

The contractor had been issued a stop work order last week after several construction beams collapsed on Jalan Tun Sardon nearby. A worker manning a crane had accidentally knocked down the beams.

“The first incident and this landslide are about 1km apart. But the contractor has ceased work. They were not working today,” Chow said.

He also said the contractor was due to submit its report on the collapsed beams to the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) this afternoon.

“But the landslide happened first. We are saddened to hear about the lives lost,” he said. – October 19, 2018.